Arketh Chronicles Order of Chaos
by James Baldwin
Summary: An epic tale of love, bravery, and heroes. Join Justin as he goes on an epic quest to defeat the evil Witch Lord of Barak Torr. It will be a long road, full of peril and danger, but what is an adventure without that? Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

It was a cold night. Shadows danced along the giant stone pillar that stood alone and erect in the lonely valley. The flickering of torchlight could be seen around the great stone, and there were creatures creating the shadows that danced along the pillar. Small, goblins and scimitar-armed orcs had encamped around it. Their size was fairly small for a raiding party, but they had a special purpose, which was to perform a special ritual, a dark and almost forgotten ritual. Their leader stood, looking at the stone pillar.

He was not like them; he was a human and stood taller than the others that walked around him. This man had an aura about him that of evil. He wore a great fur cloak that whipped in the breeze, a shirt of black mail, and a great horned helmet that covered his scarred face. He had long forgotten his old name, the name that he once had used when he had that old life, but the life he once had was far behind him. He gave a slight sneer at the memory of it. He was Granthog the Great, Granthog the Terrible, and Granthog Kin Killer. He was a cruel and horrible taskmaster. And what of the humanity that was still left in him? Why, that too has almost faded away into the great history books of the Silver Council. He was what he was then and there, and nothing more. He was a servant, neigh slave, of the Witch Lord. He had seen one hundred and eleven summers pass, and still he showed no signs of age. He looked young and fair except for the three long scars that marred his young face. These were not done by any foe, but by Granthog himself who carved the long trenches in his face as a sign of loyalty. He mused about his old name, the name that Anina used to call him. He thought for a great deal of time, but could no longer remember. The only name that ever came to mind was Granthog. A tear came to his eye, but he quickly wiped it from his eye. He drew his dagger from his belt, took off his glove, and stabbed his hand. He winced and wrenched the blade from his hand and watched as his healed slowly, the blood seeping back into the arteries and the skin slowly reattaching itself. He looked again at the great stone pillar and told himself, "She died long ago. Let us finish our task."

He turned and walked back into the camp. He saw the orcs and goblins talking and eating together, and speaking in their harsh tongue. He did not care to learn the language for most orcs already knew how to speak the common human language of that area, and thus he felt no need to learn it. Finally he arrived at his tent. Inside were many furs and in the corner was a desk for him to read or write should he grow weary on his long and tiresome journeys. He took off his helmet and placed it on his desk. He sat down and began to read a long papyrus scroll when an orc arrived at the tent flap. The orc bowed and he looked at the man.

"What is it Grunth? Any news from the necromancers?" The knight said glancing at the creature and quickly returning to read the scroll.

The orc stood his ground and grunted, "The necromancers are here, milord. What shall I tell them?"

The knight stood and picked up his helmet and walked to the orc. "Take me to them at once, and tell the others to assemble. We begin at once…"

"I am glad to finally see that you have come." Said the knight as he approached a group of hooded humans near the pillar.

A man stepped forward and he removed his hood. He had a grayish beard and a long nose. The man gave a smile and showed his brownish teeth. "Our order has never done such an act in many a long year. It is an honor."

"You know that if you continue with this task, you have damned your own race to its own death." The knight said as he touched the stone pillar and then glanced back at the necromancer.

"Of course, but we know that he shall be a better master than King Mahlan. We offer our services gladly." The man bowed.

The knight motioned for him to stand. "We must start the ritual as soon as possible. His return must be soon."

"Of course," he said. He turned to his men and gathered them together. The knight turned around and gathered his orcs.

The necromancers gathered in a circle around the great stone pillar, and the orcs hoarded around them. The head necromancer went up to the pillar and placed his hands on the stone. The knight breathed heavily, and he could feel sweat upon his brow. Much was at stake, and he knew that nothing must go wrong, or the entire operation would be null. He turned to an orc who wore wolf skins and carried a long spear.

"Pokil." The knight said to the orc.

"Milord." He kneeled and bowed his head.

"I want you and twenty of you stealthiest orcs to patrol the area and make sure that nothing can go wrong with this ritual. Is that understood?" He piercingly stared at the orc.

"What do you fear? I smell it." He moved closer, but it was too close to the knight, and he backhanded the orc. Pokil fell to the ground, and his purple blood smeared his face. He stared at the knight in shock.

"I fear nothing, and don't you forget it, or you shall feel pain unimaginable." Said the knight, gathering his composure. He was afraid. "Now go, you pathetic worm."

The orc nodded his head and scampered away gathering his troops.

The necromancer raised his hands, and shouted in Dark Elf. With this act, the ritual had begun.

Pokil rubbed his hand on his face and wondered what could possibly have the master in such a foul mood. It was a joyous occasion, so why would he be anxious? He let the questions settle in his head as he ordered the orcs to survey the valley. He looked around for possible ambush points, and he found one. It was the forest's edge. An army could fit in there and not be noticed.

Motioning for his orcs to gather around him, he said, "Unar, take Guil and Jubik to the edge, and check for enemies. We have orders to not let anything happen, so, lets be sure that nothing does happen, got it?"

"Aye, Pokil. We got it." said Unar.

"Alright, off with ya then." He pointed towards the woods, and the group silently ran off.

Quietly, in the woods, a division of soldiers waited. They wore chain and bore the crest of the blue dragon, they were official soldiers of Westguard. A man who wore a blue cape walked up to a mounted knight and began to relay the situation.

"Why do we wait, Milord? We have the advantage! More men, cavalry, and archer support. Why don't we just charge?" He paused waiting for an answer.

The knight removed his steel helmet and replied, "Because, we were told to wait, and see what they are up to. We are not to attack unless Rakail, says so." He had short blonde hair, and looked rather young to be a knight.

"With respect, sir, we need to kill them. These orcs are trying to do something, and I know that it can't be good. Please, heed my warning." The man stared at the knight.

The knight turned to a hooded man next to him. "What do you see Rakail, may we attack?"

The hooded figure slowly turned his head. He removed his hood and showed glowing white eyes. "The orcs are summoning a Greater Demon. I advise that we interupt the summoning as soon as possible." He put the hood back on. and sat on the ground and went into a trance, staring at the pillar.

"Well, that's enough for me to call out the order. Wake the men. We fight now." said the knight he put on his helmet and rode towards the cavalry that stood ready.

The other drew his sword and pulled up his chain coif and gave the signal. the knight rode up beside a horseman.

"Are we attacking now, sir?" said one of the horsemen.

"Aye, it is time to break up their little party." said the knight. He rose his sword into the air.

Granthog nervously fidgeted his sword. He could not be still. This was an important moment, and he only wished that it would not take this long. He looked around him and saw the forest's edge. He did not have much time to look at them, for a great flash of light came from the necromancer. The necromancer shouted out loud, "It has begun!"

Granthog sighed in relief and turned and looked back at the edge of the forest. Why could he not just watch the ceremony? Why were his eyes drawn to that spot. He almost turned away when he saw it. A flash from the forest. It was a fire arrow. A signal of some kind.

"Curses." He muttered under his breath. "Orith!" the man cried.

"Sir." An orc approached him. "What's wrong?"

"Alert the men. We have guests." he drew his sword.

The orc hesitated, "But sir, we have only a few men. We should fall back. Forty can not hold back a well armed attack force." As he said this, he knew he would regret it.

"What did you tell me?" said the man raising his sword.

"Nothing, milord." He cowered before his master. "I will do as you say." The orc scampered off and began alarming the men.

A necromancer walked towards Granthog. "Shall we continue the ceremony? There seems to be a commotion."

"Continue, necromancer, we shall handle our fine guests." said Granthog walking towards the edge of the camp.

"Very well then."

"Steady, men, steady." said the knight as he rode up the line of footmen. "Remember, keep your wits sharp and your eyes open. We have our orders. Slay them all." He rose his sword into the air.

A younger soldier, barely the age of war, turned and looked at his older comrade. "Whats it like fighting an orc?" he trembled.

The soldier smiled and replied, "Like fighting a man. Courage, lad. We will see the gates of Westguard once more before this is over." He patted him on the back and drew his sword when he saw the knight's arm rising. "But first we have a little fight to finish."

The knight looked at the man with the cloak and said, "Get your archers ready to move in front. We want little to no casualties for this battle."

"Understood sir." He walked towards the archers and drew his long sword. "Archers forward!" he shouted.

"Alright." grumbled the knight. "Let's go."

"Sire!" cried Orith "Their archers approach us!"

The knight looked and saw a line of archers step out from the woods and draw closer to the rock.

"We must meet them. We can not allow the necromancers to be hurt. We hold the line at all cost. No retreat." said the knight as he hurried to the rabble of orcs. He surveyed the shadowy landscape, and could see no escape. _Maybe I will die here..._ he thought to himself. It was not as he expected. He hoped to die in a great battle in the very throne room of king Mahlan, but as he gripped his sword tighter and tighter, he knew his end was near.

"All right you filthy cur!" he shouted at the orcs, "Form bloody ranks! I want you to line up you worthless pieces of sod!"

The orcs hurriedly lined up and drew weapons. Some only wore fur clothing. Some wore heavy chain. Some wore close to nothing except loin cloths or leather skirts. The orc group was a rag tag group. As Granthog looked at his troops he knew that the battle was not in their favor, yet he continued to rally them and bark out orders. He took one last look at the stone pillar.

"I hope I have served you, milord." He rose his sword into the air and shouted the charge.

"Archers, draw your arrows!" shouted the caped man. The archers drew their deadly arrows in unison. "Ready your arrows!" They notched their arrows. "Fire!" A deadly hail of arrows sprang from the archer's bows into the darkness of night. "Archers, draw your arrows!"

The knight and his footmen and cavalry were ready to charge. All eyes were eagerly fixed on the knight. The knight rode down the small line and shouted, "After the next volley we charge!" He returned to his cavalry and rose his sword.

"Ready your arrows!"

A silence came form the footmen.

"Ready... Fire!"

The volley flew into the darkness, and the men charged. Into the night they ran, out of the cover of the forest. All eyes were fixed on one position: reaching the pillar, and stopping the orcs, before it was too late. Half a mile was between them and the enemy orcs. The footmen slowed down and let the cavalry take lead while they reformed and charged more closely fit. The cavalry reached the orcs, and the sound of battle was heard in the plain. Both sides cried out in pain. The footmen could see the orcs now, and they quickly advanced to the cavalry's aid. They hit the orcs hard, but now all that was left was to see who emerged victorious.

The necromancer's brow sweated as he chanted feverishly the lines and stanzas of the dark magics used for the summoning. He quickly finished one line, but had to move on to another. He knew time was running out, but he was so close to his objective. Only a few more words now, and he would at last be complete. He finished and looked to the sky. A great plume of red flame emerged in front of him and a giant man that stood a few feet taller than him emerged. He had fiery skin and great black horns that rested upon his brow. He had jagged rows of teeth and when he spoke flames jutted from his mouth.

"Who calls forth the gatekeeper" he said with a snarl as he hoisted a great fiery whip into his hands.

"I do, oh mighty one." said the necromancer as he fell on his face and bowed.

The demon lifted an eyebrow and gave a chuckle and spread his wings. "You, a human, calls forth the mighty gatekeeper? What joke is this?" He turned around and saw the carnage that ensued rom teh battle in the plain. "What goes on here; it looks good." he gave a toothy grin.

"Great one, we ask that we could return our master to this world so we may be led by a true ruler." He winced at what he said.

"And who is this man that you speak of?" He turned back and looked at the necromancer.

"He is the Witch Lord."

The demon laughed and leaned over and came face to face with the necromancer. The necromancer could feel the heat of the flames that danced upon the demon's red body. "He has been damned to the underworld for all eternity. I am his keeper, and no one leaves the underworld... unless." he looked at the other necromancers that stood close by.

The necromancer caught on to the demon's game. "Unless another soul is sacrificed. A willing replacement."

"Precisely." The demon roared in laughter.

The necromancer hesitated. "I am to be that sacrifice." He closed his eyes and waited for the demon to reply.

"Is that so?" he chuckled and drew back from him. "Are you willing to spend all eternity in the underworld, just for the sake of your master? You are more foolish than the Great One."

"I am." he replied.

"I can not take your life, human. You must do that yourself. I can only exchange the souls." the demon drew a leather sack and pulled out a glowing wisp. "Here he is. Now, do it already. I see that you do not have much time."

The necromancer looked at the wisp. He clasped his hand around a small dagger that hung by his side. "Very well." he croaked. He raised the knife to his throat and ended it.

The demon watched as life faded from his eyes. "Ah. A new soul. Finally. This one was getting boring." He grabbed the necromancer's soul and let loose the wisp. The soul hovered over the corpse of the necromancer. It began to take form. The flesh of the necromancer began to rip off the body and attach itself to the soul. A scream came forth from the head as it sprouted legs and arms and collapsed to the ground. Finally, it was finished. The creature breathed heavy sighs and looked up. He had grey eyes and looks at the battlefield. He turned and looked around and saw the necromancers who rushed to his aid.

"Where am I?" he said in a cold, unfeeling voice. "Where have you brought me?"

One of the necromancers clothed him in a black cloak and said, "You are at the Great Pillar, milord. We have brought you back form the underworld."

"I see." He stood and walked towards the field. "We shall leave now." He gathered the necromancers together as he walked down the stone steps that led to the pillar.

Granthog hacked and slashed, but nothing seemed to stop the human's assault. He had killed three and wounded several others. He decided to fall back to a group of orcs and ordered them to surround him. They did so and fought back the humans. Granthog kneeled and tried to catch his breath, but could not for some reason. Standing, he looked towards the pillar in hope that the summoning was complete, and there he saw him, the Witch Lord, stepping onto the grass of the field. He could see his face in the torchlight. The summoning was over. The Witch Lord would save him and his orcs. He gave a brief smile, but then he could not believe his eyes. The Witch Lord lifted his hands into the air and clasped them together, and in a bright flash of blue light, him and the necromancers disappeared. He dropped his sword.

"He left us." he said aloud.

Rakail lifted his head up and screamed. He saw the Witch Lord too, the terror of this world had returned. He shakily covered his eyes with his hands. "How could this happen?" he said to himself. "I must warn the council." He stood, lifted his head to the starlit sky, raised his arms to the sky, chanted a few words in Elfin and shouted, "The great Darkness has returned!"

An old man stood upright in his bed. "No. It can't be true." He stood from his bed and walked down a long, stone corridor and finally came into a vast room. It was dark, but the old man clasped his hands together and a bluish light faintly hummed around the room. The room opened with light and inside were mountains of books and scrolls stacked upon one another. Treasures, old and new, scattered around each table. The old man glided toward one of the tables and shouted in Elfin and the books uniformly stacked themselves and he smiled, "That's better." He then picked up several books and skimmed through each quickly and then tossing them to the floor as they gently floated down to the ground and landed without noise. Scroll after scroll, book after book, legend after legend he looked through until he paused and took a scroll from another pile. "Unithor the Seer... maybe..." he said as he opened it. He unrolled a scroll and looked at it. "The prophecy says that six heroes from a different house of Gard will repel the fourth darkness. They will be great heroes, better than the ones of old." He looked up and said, "It is time, Orb."

A glowing blue rock floated towards him. "Yes, Kas?"

"We have a lot of work to do." said the old man as he rolled up his sleeves.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1: The Forgotten Noble**

_**"People of Arketh. Know that because of your sins, you will see the first darkness. It will pass, but your hearts will be hardened and you will war against another. Brother against brother. So I have said the first prophecy. **_

_**Then the second darkness comes. It will be more terrible than the first, and you, people of Arketh, will not live to see it. Your children are cursed, and their children's children, because of your sin. So I have said the second prophecy.**_

_**The third darkness will consume the remaining children of Arketh, but a light will shine from the heavens and smite the darkness, but it will not be defeated, for their children's children are cursed with sorrow and will reap discord, oh, people of Arketh because of your sin. So I have said the third prophecy.**_

_**The fourth darkness comes to their children's children. This will consume their land in fire and death. None will escape the pain that the fourth darkness offers, because of you, oh people of Arketh, this calamity will consume the lives of your heirs, but, The Great One, being merciful, will grant them saviors. They will be know as The Six. One from each city of Gard they shall hail. They will save you from the darkness. So I have said the fourth prophecy...**_

_**The Ancient Texts of Erithor.**_

_**The Lamentations of Unithor The Seer **_

"Nice try, Erik." said Justin as he parried a blow.

"You think that you can beat me? Ha! I will become a knight sooner than you if you keep that up my friend." said Erik mockingly. He moved more nimbly than Justin, but Justin sweeped the sword across and stopped at the man's neck.

"Again, brother?" said Justin giving a smile. Erik scoffed and gave a chuckle and stood. Justin looked around the barracks courtyard and saw other soldiers practicing with longswords as well.

"You are getting quicker, brother." said Erik tossing him a towel.

Justin accepted the towel and began to wipe the sweat from his brow. "Either that or you are just getting slower." He smiled and Erik gave a mighty guffaw. They had been friends for six years. Ever since Justin's father had died and his mother left him, he had lived with Erik. They had been childhood friends and even joined the army together. They lived in one of the great fortress cities of Westguard called Marketton. Justin used to be a nobleman's son, but when his father died, so did the rank. He was forced from his home and almost starved had he not ran into Erik while wandering through the streets begging for food. Justin told Erik his situation, and Erik, befriending the scamp, secretly brought food to Justin for many weeks that is until Erik's parents saw that the food stores were getting mysteriously low. When Erik was questioned by his parents, Justin showed himself. He told them of his story, and they were kind to him, and took pity on the boy. They allowed him to live in their house and eat their food, if he and Erik would work and do chores around the house. They treated Justin well, and he never knew how to repay them. He referred to them as mother and father, and they referred to him as their son. Justin and Erik, once sixteen, joined the local army militia and soon became officers. They went everywhere together, and if one was in trouble, the other would bail him out.

"Well, I guess we can get out of this chainmail and out of this sun." suggested Erik.

"I suppose. We should probably ask Sir "eyepatch" over there, if we can." finished Justin.

"Aye, let's see what "Old Patchy" has in store for us." said Erik as he began walking towards the commanding officer. As they approached they could see him more clearly. He looked the same as ever - tall, muscled, and the black eyepatch that he wore on his left eye. They always asked how he had lost it, but he never told them. He usually said the it was a rock scaling exercise gone wrong, or a band of roaming goblins came by and gouged it out. All the soldiers had stopped asking after the thirty other stories that he told, but those two seemed to be his favorite, and he always seemed to use the goblin story more around female recruits.

"Hello, lads, finished with your exercise?" he said putting a towel up to his head and wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Aye, Sir Ulrich." said Erik. "Me and Justin were wondering if we might be relieved for the rest of the day?"

The commander gave a laugh, "Of course not, you still have patrol to do." he smiled. "But today, I suppose I will give you an easy task. Keep watch at the Silver Wolf Inn. We have some reports of local disturbances, nothing big, just drunk men getting into fights. The guard just needs to have a presence there, just to keep things in ship shape. At sundown, you may retire to your bunks." He patted the boys on the back.

"Thank you sir." said the boys in unison.

"Glad you see it my way lads. Now, if you don't mind. I spy a new recruit over there who can't seem to lift her own sword." He licked his hand hand ran his fingers through his hair and walked over confidentially.

"Do you think anyone will ever call the old man on that?" said Justin looking sheepishly at Erik.

Erik laughed and said, "I think that they mention it, but he keeps it up anyway."

"Whoah there, Justin. I think you've had a little too many there, haha!" said Erik as he led Justin back to the barracks.

"Nonsense. You drank more than you did, And I... I don't know what I'm saying, brother." said Justin as he lifted his head to the sky and laughed.

"You shouldn't drink the Faellinarian ale. You know it makes you as wobbly as a three legged table." said Erik smiling.

"Aye, but it is so good."

They had just finished their patrol duty, and it was rather late, and they both could not wait to return to the barracks and get some sleep. They had barely made it to the barracks gates when they heard a sound from behind them.

"Who's there?" said Erik with a smile, but there was no one behind them.

"Bloody cats, they always jump on you when you're trying to sleep." said Justin as he collapsed on the ground.

"Stand up, brother. I don't think its a cat." said Erik as he drew his sword and helped Justin up.

Justin shook his head and feebly drew his sword. "Come out, you! Who's there?" No sound was made. "Let's get inside. Whoever it is won't follow us into the barracks, right?"

"Aye." said Erik as he helped Justin go through the gates and lock them. They made it to their bunks and prepared for sleep. They both went to sleep fast, and thought nothing of what happened outside. Meanwhile, as they slept, two shadowy figures met close outside the barracks gates.

"Sel, you mustn't make noises like that. You almost got us caught." said one of the cloaked men as it moved closer to the alleys. He had a hissing voice that sounded harsh on the cold night air.

"It is not my fault a cat jumped on me and scared the -"

"I don't care for your excuses." said the figure. "We get the princess tomorrow. Our Lord has returned and has asked us to do a simple favor. Once you kidnap the princess, you take her to me. I shall await outside the North Gate with a wagon. We then make for Ogre Foot, understood?"

"What does he want with the princess?" said Sel.

"He wants the princess and that is all you bloody need to know you git. Keep your mind on the mission, Sel, not the details, okay?"

"Aye Reka, I understand." said Sel as he began to walk away.

"Sel." said Reka as he stopped him.

"Yes?"

"Don't kill her before you get to me. We need her alive, he will have a special use for her."

"I never get to have any fun." said Sel as he walked away.

"I know, Sel. I know."

"Wakey, Wakey, eggs and baky!" said Ulrich as he banged some pots and pans as he entered the company barracks. "C'mon, Justin, you are a sergeant. Set an example for your men and get up." He said as he walked down the long aisle of bunks.

"Aye, Sir Ulrich." said Justin groggily.

"Bet you wish you didn't -" began Erik.

"I have no regrets." said Justin. They both rose and went to the bathing area and prepared for the day. They returned to their bunks and put on their armor and their blue and gold tabard. they went to the courtyard and put on their steel helmets. They stood watch as they saw the men line up for breakfast. They talked and laughed a bit, but then grew silent as a messenger approached Justin.

"Sir, the Lord Mayor wishes to speak with you, Sergeant. He says that it is urgent and you must have breakfast with him." the messenger handed Justin a note. It had the Lord Mayor's seal and signature.

"Bloody heck. It looks legitimate." said Justin as he read the paper. "Any idea as to why he would wish to dine with me?"

"He did not say, but he did say that it was urgent."

Justin looked at Erik who gave him a nod of "you better go now, stupid."

"Well. I suppose I will not join you for breakfast, brother." said Justin as he rolled the message up and placed it in a leather satchel. "I will return as soon as possible. Messenger, tell Sir Ulrich where I will be if he needs to find me." He paused and tried to remember if he was forgetting something. "I suppose, I am off." He bagan to walk off but was stopped by Erik.

"Messenger, tell Ulrich where I will be as well." He smiled at Justin. "You aren't going to leave me alone with Sir Thalus."

Justin smiled back, "You saw through my clever rouse. C'mon. Let's not keep the Lord Mayor waiting." said Justin as he walked towards the gates of the courtyard. They had made it down the street before Erik spoke.

"What do you think this is about?" he asked.

"I don't know. I wonder what it is myself." said Justin nervously. They could see the castle over the thatched house tops. "We are almost there."

"Be calm, brother. I am sure everything is fine. You used to be a noble, so you know him, right? Plus, you have always fancied the Princess. So, You should have a delightful brunch."

Justin laughed. "Of course. I just don't want to be killed for burping in his noble prescience."

They both laughed as they made it through the busy streets of Marketton. Children ran playing through the streets and merchants tried to sell their quireos and bakers their bread. The clanging and hammering of the local blacksmiths could be heard loud over the people's chatter, and the busy people and the rumbling of passing carts and wagons and the marching of soldier patrols kept the town looking alive, prosperous, and free. They had made it to the gates. Justin showed his papers to the gate keeper and he allowed them inside.

Past the courtyard they entered a long hallway that led to two double doors at he end with two guards standing post. they walked through the double doors that led into a beautiful and large domed room. At the back of the room guarded by several guards and entertained by jesters and other court councilors and magicians sat the Lord Mayor who was talking to some advisers over the defenses of the city. The two bowed until they were acknowledged by the Lord Mayor. He had a curly red beard and was a burly man that had a great huge belly, but it did not seem to be a burden to him at all, because he was agile and moved quickly to raise his arms in welcome. His cheeks were red and he had a kind face that showed wisdom in his older years. His voice was loud and welcoming.

"Ah, young Darklord. Good to see you again!" bellowed the Lord Mayor as he smiled and opened his arms wide. Justin winced at his father's name but maintained a smile. "You know that I remember you as a small child being led in here by your father. He was such a proud man, your father. Oh, and I remember that you used to play with my daughter, yes, you two were inseparable when you were young. Oh how the days just pass, do they not, young Darklord?"

"They do pass quickly, Sire." said Justin as he bowed again.

"Oh what is with all this bowing nonsense?" said the Lord Mayor as he waved his arms around and gave a hearty laugh. "You are a noble now, young Justin." He gave a wide smile.

"What?" said Justin as he was taken aback.

"You are a noble once more, my good boy!." He gave a great guffaw of glee and continued. "A group came by and said that your father, who we had thought to be dead, was alive and living in Northguard, healing from horrible wounds, given to him by rogue wizards, nasty business if you ask me, I do wonder what he was doing to get into the mess though. Anyway, he sent a messenger finally, once he could tell who he was to the dear old man who cared for him when he was found, and sent a messenger here, to make sure that his son was still alive."

Justin could not believe what he was hearing. Granted he never liked his father, nor did he ever get to know the man because of his many adventures, but he couldn't believe that after all these years, he finally sent word to the Lord Mayor that he was alive.

"Why has he not come himself?" inquired Justin.

"Sir Darklord is recovering from his wounds." said the Lord Mayor. "I heard that it would leave him permanently disfigured." at this the Lord Mayor winced. "Anyway, he said that he will be sending some associates of his here to help you buy a manor and get your estate going. I told him that you were a sergeant in the army and he said that he was very proud of you and says that you made the right choice." the Lord Mayor smiled, but then turned his smile into a scowl, "I am sorry that you and your good mother were evicted from your house." He slammed his fist into the arm of his chair. "my court was apparently infiltrated by the wizards that injured your father and they told me that your family moved from here to Southguard because of your 'ailing health', Justin." the Lord Mayor turned his back and looked at his advisers. "I had no idea that they evicted you in order to take out every last remnant of family that he had." The Lord Mayor turned back and said, "At first when he sent the message I almost replied that you moved to Southguard because of your health, but Sir Thor said that he had a Darklord in the local garrison here. Once I found that out, I had him run a background check and you matched. All the pieces fit in, and I sent word to your father. I waited for his reply and I soon received it and now here you are." He paused and began to speak to his adviser. "Where is that message that Sir Darklord sent?"

"Here it is, milord." said one, holding a piece of paper and a leather bag.

"Ah!" said the Lord mayor as he took them and walked over towards Justin. "Inside is a personal letter to you and all the things you need to know concerning the Darklord family, including your family tree and your family history. This is straight from the Silver Council right here. He also sent this." He held up the leather bag.

"What is in it, Milord?" said Justin.

"Your signet ring and one thousand pieces of gold." said the Lord Mayor with a smile. "Enough to buy you anything you could possibly want in this town." He laughed and said, "Oh, enough of this talk, you and your friend must join me for breakfast, lunch, and supper. We must celebrate this event. I always liked your father, and he did wonders for this town." He walked past them and through another set of double doors. Some councilmen followed, others returned to talking amongst themselves or just exited the room. Justin looked at Erik.

"I don't know what just happened." said Justin as he sat down on the ground.

"Your father is alive, and you are a noble again!" said Erik as he gave a great smile and lifted him up and gave him a hug. "Why so sad, brother? You have everything now."

"I geuss I just don't realize that my father is alive. After so long this all just seems like a dream." said Justin as he looked around frightened.

"Then it is the greatest dream that you have ever had, Justin." said Erik as he looked Justin in the eye and smiled. He patted him on the back, "C'mon, smile! This is a day of rejoicing, and from the looks of the Lord Mayor, he was about to knight you or something."

Justin gave a small smile and hugged Erik. "I can't believe this has happened." He pulled away and gave a shout of joy and Erik joined in with him. There was much rejoicing coming from those two boys that some council men stopped talking and watched them and smiled. Finally the two boys walked towards the dining room triumphantly and with great smiles. Justin stopped though and slowed down. He reached down and took the note from his father. He hesitated, but finally opened the seal of the Darklord family, a crescent moon with a greatsword running through it.

_**Dear Justin,**_

_**By now you should have been told of what happened. While on my journey to Northguard, a group of mages within the Silver Council caught me alone without any guard. They then proceeded to torture me, although I will not go into details for my writer's sake, I was then burned, severely. They then proceeded to kill my guards who were not far behind, fifty of my best were killed on that cursed journey. They then left me to die in the cold wilderness. That I did. I saw death, but fought him, and returned to life. I soon found myself within the confines of some stone building, upon further inquiries I discovered that I was in the house of Inil Obb. He is an old priest who nursed me back to life. I then told him my name and was returned to my people. I have had to keep quiet ever since. For ten long years I had to keep quiet, and now, I have returned. I hope that you will forgive me for this, my heir, but I did this for us. Unfortunately your mother was killed by the mages, or so my sources say, but you still live. Clever boy. I hope to meet with you during the winter. Yet, until then, my associates Baron Hyle and Gregore Jerrand will be meeting you to help with the estate. In the back of this paper you will find the family tree and....**_ Justin stopped reading and skimmed to the back and then read the last part._**... Last, my son, do not forget who you are, You are Justin Darklord, heir to Devon Darklord. Never forget this and never let anyone else forget it neither, and you shall go further than I have. **_

_**Until we meet,**_

_**Devon Darklord **_

Far to the north, there lies a great fortress of Westguard called Northguard. It is a great fortress city that was constructed by king Gard himself during the first era of the kingdom. But, our story leads us to a two storied house inside the walls. The bustle of the city does not seem to affect this house in anyway. It stands still in the cold mountain air, and people usually walk by it an pay no heed. Yet, our story takes us inside the house, to the study area of the house where a great roaring fire sits in the fireplace on the wall of the great domed room. Books and papers lie scattered across the floor, tables, and bookshelves. A lone chair sits away from the fire. Far from its heat, but not far enough to not see its wonderful show of embers and light. In the chair sits a figure. His face covered by a silver face plate and black

cloth that covered the skin. He breathes and watched the wisps of frozen breath encircle his head. He sits up in his large chair and calls for a servant.

The servant comes and quickly dowses the fire, and replaces the light with torches and candles. The figure thanks him and says that he may leave after opening the window. The servant does as he is told and walks down the stairway out of site. The man struggles to stand and manages after a while of trying to hoist himself upwards. You see he black tunic and below it metal braces against the figure's legs that seem to support him standing. He staggers towards the window, but can not make it. He calls for the servants to help him to the window. They quickly rush up the stairs to their master's aid. He thanks them and gives them some coin for their trouble, they thank him and leave him to his window watching. The cold wind blows inside, but the figure does not feel it, nor can he.

He slowly begins to fall asleep when he is disturbed by a man standing at the stairway. The man wheres a black tunic and hurries over to the figure He has jet black hair and green eyes. He speaks to the figure, "Milord, they have departed."

A low raspy voice emits from the face plate, "Good, From, you have done very well. So loyal to your poor master." The figure coughs and turns to look at him , "And what of my son? Does he still live? I have forgotten. These treatments do things to me." He coughs some more.

"He is alive and strong, milord. He has joined the army and has become an officer."

"Are the men going to bring him to me?" he asked.

"Yes, milord. He should be here in a month or two, and you should be able to walk without the braces by then." said the man who now hold the feeble hand of his master.

The man coughs but returns to look out the window. "Have we any knew recruits?"

"Twenty-nine, just here milord. Over one hundred have joined throughout the cities."

"Excellent. My revenge will be soon and sweet." the feeble man looks back at his loyal serant. "What does the weather feel like. I can not feel after what those curs did to me. Describe the weather."

"Well it is cold. It is snowing too sir. See?" he points outside the window.

"Undo my glove on my right hand. I want to feel it." says the man.

'Of course, milord. Just do not keep it out for too long. The priest worked hard just to get that hand back to normal."

"I know." says the masked man as his servant undoes the glove. He holds it in the air and sighs. He laughs and says, "Put it back on."

"Of course"

As the servant places the glove on his master's hand another man walks up the stairs.

"Hello, Devon." says the elderly man. He was wrapped up in a great fur cloak. "How are you today?"

"Better. Not the best though." said the man coughing.

"Well. We shall see what we can do about that." said the man smiling. "Remove your left glove and close the window and get the fire going." The servant nods and leaves his master's side and begins a fire. The glove was removed and underneath was a gnarled charred skeleton. "The cruelty of some people." sighs the man as he starts to pour a purple liquid on the hand. "Now for your face."

"No. It hurts too much when you apply it there." says the man as he whimpers a little.  
"It must be done, Devon." says the old man as he removes the silver mask from the man's face. What was underneath shocked even the priest who had seen it many times before. Two bulging eyes protruded from black sockets. the faced was black and charred and misshapen. "I really am sorry, Sir Darklord."

The man nods and laughs, "I will have my revenge."

"Isn't this just a glorious evening?" cried the Lord Mayor as Justin, Erik, and the whole court sat at a great table eating. Justin and Erik sat across form the Lord Mayor and his wife. The food had not been served yet because they waited for the princess to arrive to the feast. Justin had possibly the best day of his life, so far. Erik and his family was also invited to the evening feast. Justin did not realize how influential his father had been to the kingdom. He soon came to know that his father was the first choice to become the Mayor of Marketton, but he suggested that the Markis Marque should be the Lord Mayor and his descendants the next rulers. Thus Markis owed much to his father.

"Ah! There she is!" said Markis as he stood to greet the princess as she walked in.

Her mother was the next to speak. "What kept you so long, my dear, we have guests, old and new." she smiled and looked at Justin. The princess stopped and stood and looked at Justin. Justin blushed as he saw the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his entire life. She had rose blonde hair and stood just a few inches shorter than him. He face was as fair as he remembered it six years ago. He had to look down and break eye contact.

"Hello mother, hello father. Might I inquire who our guests might be?" she said looking at Justin.

Markis walked her to her seat and said, "Why don't you recognize him my dear? You two used to play for hours when you were young."

"Justin?" she smiled and blushed and turned away. She saw his trimmed beard and sandy blonde hair and quickly remembered the boy of whom she had first fallen in love with.

"Hello, milady." he continued to take only brief glimpses at her in fear that he might die if he gazed upon her too long.

"Yes! He has returned, my dear. He is a noble once more!" said Markis as he lifted a goblet for a toast. "To the Darklords! May they never die, haha!" everyone at the great long table cheered and took a long drought form their goblets. Then the food came. It was a great feast. The meat melted in Justin's mouth, and Erik's family were overjoyed and zealous about the whole occasion. Erik turned to talk to Justin.

"Hey, why don't you talk to the Princess Annaleisa?" said Erik smiling at Justin.

"Why, she has her own friends she is talking to." said Justin briefly looking at her chatting with her friends. "Plus she probably does not even want to talk to me. It has been six years since I have seen her and her I. Why would she want..."

"Justin," said the princess.

"Yes, milady." He said quickly.

She laughed by his twitchiness and put her hand on his to still him. Justin's eyes opened wide. "Where did you stay when you were forced from your home?" she said giving him a smile.

Justin managed to stammer out, "I - I stayed with Erik and his family since I was ten. They treated me very well."

"I should hope so, the son of a noble." she said as she took a drink form her goblet.

"Well, then, I was actually a street rat then. I had no status. I was nothing." said Justin nervously.

":I see." she said putting down her goblet. "I see your uniform. You must be sixteen, the age of war."

"Yes, milady." said Justin as he gave a weak smile.

"You can just call me Anna as you did when we were children." she smiled at him.

Erik looked over with one eye and smiled and went back to eating his steak when a young lady turned to him and said, "So, you are the one Justin stayed with when he was thrown out?"

"That is correct." he smiled.

"That is so sweet." she said as she gazed at him.

"Oh I have done more selfless deeds then that." he bluffed.

The night went well, and Markis finished the night with his best minstrel who told a story about the War of the Kings from the distant land across the sea called Arith and a story of Devon Darklord. The Lord Mayor then proceeded to allow everyone to spend the night in the castle. Erik's family graciously thanked him for his hospitality and he said that they deserved every bit of it.

Everyone retired to their own quarters to what would seem to be a peaceful night, or so they believed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2: A Thief in the Night**

Justin awoke in the middle of the night. The cool air blew through the open window. It felt good on his warm skin. He sat upright in the bed and wiped the sleep from his eyes. Standing he moved towards the washbasin. He took a silver cup and scooped the water from it. It was cold and clear and tasted very crisp. He was still drinking when he remembered something. He shut the window before he went to sleep.

Fear clutched his heart. He kept still and got back into his bed. Keeping his eyes slightly open and acting like he fell asleep allowed him to see it. A black figure moved from behind a big mirror. It was as tall as a human, but did not look human. Justin kept calm as he saw the figure move around his room. Finally, the figure went towards the stone wall and pushed revealing a secret passage way. the figure looked back at Justin and then slightly closed the passage as he quickly ran through it. As soon as he waited a minute or two he jumped out of bed and got dressed. Grabbing his sword, he opened the door to his room and darted down the hallway. He ran to the outside door of the lord's chambers. There were two guards standing outside who drew swords as he approached.

"There is an assassin here! I must warn the Lord Mayor." yelled Justin.

"Slow down, lad. What do you mean by assassin?" said one of the guards.

"I saw a dark figure move around my room and open a secret passageway that led somewhere." said Justin frantically.

"Scott, check his room, if he tells the truth raise the alarm. We will go talk to the Lord Mayor." the other guard nodded and ran down the corridor. "Come with me, lad." said the guard as he led Justin through the double doors. Inside they walked down a short hallway with two more guards at the end of it.

"What is wrong Thadius?" said one of the guards as the guard approached with Justin.

"Assassins are in the castle. Go to this boy's room and help out Scott. We must speak with the Lord Mayor." said Thadius as he opened the door.

"Assassins?!" said the guard as he ran down the hall.

As Justin and Thadius walked through the door four swords immediately were at their throats.

"What are you doing here?" said one of the four men in black. A man in black, apparently the leader, saw who he was and lowered his sword. "I am sorry, Thadius. What is the matter?"

"Assassins are in the castle. This lad said that they went through a secret passage in his room." said Thadius.

"Curses!" said one of the men in black. "That leads to the princess's chambers."

"Then we don't have much time." said the leader of the group. "You two, stay here and lead the boy to the Lord Mayor and guard them. We will handle the intruder." With that they were off. Thadius and two of the men ran off down the hallway.

"Who are you guys?" asked Justin.

"We are the shadow watch. We are the head protectors of Westguard. We protect all political and military figures for the kingdom." said one in black. They walked through another set of doors, and reached the Lord Mayor's chambers. It as large and spacious. The stone walls had tapestries and paintings upon them and a great fireplace rested against the wall. The Lord Mayor jumped out of bed when he heard the shadow watch approach.

"Justin? What is the meaning of this Zek?" asked the Lord Mayor quickly as he put on a robe.

"This boy saw intruders go down the secret passage to your daughter's room. He alerted us to their presence and Wulfgar and Julius have one to help the guards that are already there." said Zek as he handed Justin over.

"My daughter? How dare they! Why, I will go kill them myself if I have to!" cried the Lord Mayor as he grabbed his dagger from his nightstand and began to run towards the door, but Zek and the other agent moved in front of the door and closed it.

"We are sorry, Milord, but we must protect you as well. They may come after you next." said Zek having to push the Lord Mayor away from the door.

"Curse you, Zek! Let me go save my daughter!" shouted Markis as he struggled with the two agents.

The Lord Mayor's wife arose form bed and put on a robe as well and approached her husband and tried to talk some sense into him. Justin could not stand idly by while the princess could be getting killed. He dashed past Zek and opened the door and sprinted out. Zek cried out to stop him, but there was nothing he could do while he struggled with Markis. Justin ran down the hallways shouting, "Assassins in the castle!" He drew his sword and ran back to his room. Before reaching the room he ran into Erik.

"What's wrong?" said Erik as he was in his night robe and carrying his sword.

"Assassins are in the castle, they are here for Princess Annaleisia." explained Justin.

"What? Where are they?" he said as he ran back to his room and began to put on a tunic.

"There is a passage way in my room, I will meet you there." said Justin as he ran to his room.

He entered the room and ran towards the secret passage. He pushed on the wall and it moved. Once it was open, Justin ran down the hallway, but began to move more slowly as he kept going. He saw that the passage was hewn from the stone of the building. It went straight for as long as he could see. He saw where it would end and heard swords clashing.

He entered the princess's chambers and saw a creature fighting the agents and the guards. The princess was passed out on the floor, and Justin looked up and saw the creature that they fought. It was covered in hair and wore black leather armor and a tattered black cape. His face looked like a rat and a long tail curled around his feet. He hacked and slashed desperately as the men battled with him. The doors burst open and in came a fully armored knight. He raised his sword into the air and hacked the creature in the back. Erik arrived just behind Justin to see the sword crash into the creature's back. It turned around and curled down to the ground, "Why?" it muttered as it looked at the knight and drifted on to the next world. The knight removed his helm and wiped the blood from his sword.

"Sir Viktor? How did you to come here?" asked one of the shadow watch.

The knight looked at him and laughed, "Well, I heard this lad shouting down the hallway, and I get suited up and grabbed my sword and ran in here." He said. "How is the princess?" he asked concerned.

"She is fine. The rat knocked her unconscious is all." said the leader as he lifted the princess up and put her in her bed. "Alright. You guards tell Markis what has happened. Tell him me and the other agent will watch her for the rest of the night." He turned and looked at Justin. "You did well. Good job lad." he said as he patted Justin on the back. "Everyone go. You two," he pointed at the guards, "check the body and dispose of it. Sir Viktor." he asked.

"Aye?" he said as came back from the doorway.

"I would like to speak with you." said the head Shadow Watch agent.

"Very well." he said as he stepped in.

"Everyone else, can leave and get some sleep." said the agent as everyone started to leave the room.

Justin looked at Erik and both decided to return to their quarters for some sleep. The agent waited until everyone had left, and then spoke to Viktor.

"I have one question." he said looking at Viktor.

"What might that be."

"How did you get your armor on so quickly? I would love to know that secret." He said raising his sword.

Viktor looked at the ground and gave a guffaw. "You shouldn't have asked that question. I was thinking on letting you live." He punched though the man's head and the body fell with a thump to the ground. The other lunged at him, but Viktor Dodged and grabbed the man's neck with one hand. "Hush, now." He said with wild eyes, "It will all be over soon." He quickly snapped the neck and let it fall to the ground. He popped his neck and smiled as he moved towards the princess and lifted her up an placed her on his back. Walking towards the stone wall, he raised his hand and uttered something in dark elfin and the wall crumbled to dust. He looked outside and saw the long drop and horse down below. He jumped and said another phrase in dark elfin. Magically, he glided down to the ground and lightly landed. Hoisting himself onto the horse he galloped towards the gates of the castle. He charged straight for them and lifted his hand and pointed it at the gates. Uttering another phrase it burst into flames and crumbled to ash as he rode straight through. Viktor galloped down the streets until he reached the outskirts of the town. He saw the wagon waiting as promised by the mysterious Reka. Dashing up next to it, he began to speak with the figure that sat in the driver's seat.

"I have our Lord's prize." said Viktor as he lowered the princess into the wagon. "Sel failed, so I finished the job."

"Sel was not the brightest of rats. Do they know it was you?" asked Reka.

"They will not know until tomorrow night." said Viktor as he moved his long brown hair out of his eyes.

"Excellent. I knew we could count on you Viktor. Sel was a good distraction." said Reka as he motioned for the horses to go.

"Indeed. He was a good servant, but nothing more." he laughed as he rode alongside the wagon.

"True. To be more than a servant requires you to be a little more... arrogant." The ratman smiled at Viktor.

"We make our way to Oger Foot, correct?"

"Yes to meet up with the Order of Chaos." said Reka.

"Why do we hand over the princess to them?"asked Viktor.

"All in good time. We shall see how our tale unfolds."

"We shall see." said Viktor.

"Where is my daughter, Zek?!" bellowed the Lord Mayor inside the courtroom.

Zek cowered from the force of the man's voice. "Milord, we are doing the best we can, we had no idea that Viktor was a traitor."

"Why?" asked the Lord Mayor as he slumped into his seat.

"Milord, yelling and screaming will get us nowhere, we must find out as much information as we can. My agetns are going up and down the streets looking for anything that may lead us to where the princess might be." said Zek reassuringly.

"I know that you are doing your best, but..." he was interrupted by the opening of the great oaken doors that led into the courtroom. An elderly man quickly strided toward the Lord Mayor. Guards surrounded the Lord Mayor as the man entered.

"I'll say," said the older man, "Is this how you treat all your guests?" He bowed before the Lord Mayor and looked around. "It has changed since I have last been here." he said as his eyes drifted around the room. He wore a red robe embroidered with gold and wore long pointy shoes and looked rather comical with a long white beard. He was short and looked no older than sixty, but in the eyes, the people could see wisdom that had far surpassed that age.

"Hail, good sir." said the Lord Mayor greeting the old man. "Who are you and what is your -"

"My business?" interrupted the old man. "I have many names, but you may call me, Kas Silverkin."

The room murmured with excitement. Councilman and peasant alike knew and whispered the name.

"I am the leader of the Silver Council of Magic. I am here to help, in sorts, you retrieve your daughter." said the old man with a smile.

"You are one of teh firsts then." said the king in awe.

"One of the firsts? I am the first wizard that ever was." the room went silent in respect. "I have come to tell you where your daughter is going."

The Lord Mayor stood, "What do you know about her." He was held back by Zek.

"Oh please, that is not necessary good sir, let him go." he said pointing at Zek. "She is at Fort Ogre Foot and is now prisoner to the Order of Chaos."

"Order of Chaos? Who is this?" asked Zek.

"They are a group of knights loyal to the Witch Lord. They have kidnapped her in hopes to sacrifice her to bring someone back." said Kas.

"They are not trying to brim back the Witch Lord, are they?" asked Zek.

"No, they will try to raise Skullrihm from the dead."

Zek cringed, "The Witch Lord's second in command?" Why would they bring back the second in command if the first is not..." he paused. "Gard protect us." he said at last.

"Yes, the Witch Lord has returned, and he has retaken his bastion of Barak Torr. He has a new fresh breed of orcs and undead. He will strike soon, but not until his most loyal servants have been raised from the dead." he looked at the Lord Mayor. "I must see your ten best knights, and there must be a tournament for the one who gets to rescue the princess."

"Very well." said the Lord Mayor. "It shall be done. The tournament will be held as soon as possible." He pointed at three messengers, "Go throughout the town and announce that there shall be a tournament."

They nodded and ran off to relay their message.

"I must leave you now, but I will return for the tournament." said Kas as he turned his back.

"I must insist that you stay here, you are apart of the Silver Council, and I must say that you stay here for the night."

"I have pressing business elsewhere, milord, but I assure you I will be here first thing. A wizard is never late, or so an old friend told me." said Kas as he walked through the oaken doors.

Out of Kas's pouch floated a blue glowing rock that had two big eyes rested at the top the rock.

"Hello, Orb." said Kas as he continued walking.

"A tournament, eh?" said the floating rock. "Why didn't you reveal the rest of the prophecy?"

"Because if I did, It may not come true, those directly involved in the prophecy may not know the prophecy until the opportune time, or someone may lead to its undoing or it may not come to pass or be altered somehow," he looked at Orb and gave a smile, "and that would be most unfortunate."

"I see, now, but when do we tell - "

"When he is ready, we shall tell, just as the prophecy describes."

"You are an odd man." said the rock as it floated into the pouch.

"Well, one thousand threehundred and eleven years does that to a man." said Kas as he clapped his hands togther and disappeared into a puff of smoke.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3: A Tournament and a Forgotten Prophecy**

_**From the fourth town, a hero emerges. He shall be the greatest, but the first to be tempted by darkness. What he shall do is his destiny, we all have our own, but he has a direct path laid out for him, all he must do is follow the long and glorious road that the Great One laid out for him. So I have said the the eighth prophecy...**_

_**The Ancient Texts of Erithor.**_

_**The Lamentations of Unithor the Seer**_

Justin listened as the court messenger announced to the nobles and to the people that all enlisted officers were to compete in a tournament. Justin sighed and knew that it was an attempt to find someone worthy to rescue the princess. The court had kept he kidnapping a secret, and for good reason. She was deeply loved by the citizens and people of Marketton. To hear of her disappearance would cause outrage amongst the people and violence against one another may ensue. The court had their reasons, but not telling the knights what they were competing for made Justin a little angry, but he could do nothing about it. So, he decided to just show up the day of the tournament and compete three days from now. He exited the courtroom while the messenger was still giving his speech and ran into Erik.

"Hey, brother, interesting thing, this tournament. I heard that it is to see who will rescue the princess." said Erik as he followed Justin.

"Aye, that's true, Erik, but the Lord Mayor was told by the council to keep it low right now, they said that there was no need to upset the people." said Jusstin through gritted teeth.

"Wise, but rather odd, don't you think?" implied Erik. "Shouldn't they be sending messengers out to neighboring towns and villages requesting help?"

"That too is true, but they don't now. Something is up, and I don't like the looks of it." said Justin as he stopped and paused. "They should tell the people, especially if they love her so much."

"They love her, or do you, brother?"

Kas paced the stone tiles in his vast study. Some would have called it the greatest library in the world, but since no one but him, or so believed, has ever seen it, the saying could not be proven. He twisted his white mustache that lay above his long beard and continued to think. A great fire burned in the large hewn stone fireplace and books lay upon books over several tables. Mighty bookcases held Librum, scroll, and ancient books from all over the fabled land of Arketh. He scoffed and turned to a group of blue, floating rocks. They were playing a game of some sorts, and even after two thousand years of living among them he had never understood what the game was about, he always meant to ask but was always so busy, especially with the Silver Council and all, but he singled one out and said, "You know, Orb, out of this vast library of knowledge, I can find only one prophecy about how the hero will be found."

"Buy new books." said the Orb with a hint of sarcasm.

"Ha ha." said Kas with a sneer. "What scares me is that all the pieces are falling in place for the prophecy, but we have no idea where we are to start it."

"Most prophecies are meant to be that way, Kas."

"I know, but there seems to be something that I have overlooked, something that I am not ready for." He hessitated and collapsed into a big, red, comfy chair. He continued to muse over this, but sighed and waved his hand and a glass of tea appeared on a nightstand next to the chair. He took a long drought and then he spewed it from his mouth. The Orb rushed towards him.

"What is wrong, Lord Silverkin?" he said buzzing around his head.

"That's it Orb!"

"What is, milord?" said the rock puzzlingly.

"Our answer." He stood and raced towards a shelf and said a word in elfin and a book zoomed towards him. He flipped open the book to the exact page he needed to be. He giggled in glee. "This is it Orb!"

"What?!" cried the rock.

"It is the only other prophecy ever given about the great darkness." smiled Kas.

"And you got that idea from tea?"

"It was written by a great wise man from the Dynasties of Xing, the main exporter of tea to Faellinar." said Mentor holding the book close to him as if he was offended.

"What does it say?" asked Orb.

"It says, this is just old fashioned paraphrasing, that the six will come to drive back the darkness."

"We know that already," said Orb as he began to float closer toward the book. "Lemme read that."

Kas held up a hand and grasped the book and said, "This book is for the master's eyes and not the student." Kas put his hand down as Orb retreated back. "It also says that..." He paused. "Oh my." He stopped and looked at Orb. "I must be off." He rushed towards a large coat rack which had many robes and traveling cloaks. He grabbed one while Orb frantically raced toward Kas.

"What is the matter?"

"I must leave for business." he said as he began putting on the cloak. "Warn the Silver Council that there is a traitor among them, and to wait for my arrival."

"Then where are you going?"

"To delay someone else's arrival."

Justin was sitting in the gardens watching the flowers when the Lord Mayor approached him.

"Pretty this time of year, aren't they?" he said as he sat down next to him.

"They are." he said as he looked down.

"I have some ill news, my boy." said the Lord Mayor hesitantly.

"Yes, milord?" asked Justin.

"You are not allowed to compete in the tournament."

Justin stood and raised his voice, "Why not?! Am I not a noble once more? Don't I have the right?! What keeps me from the tournament?"

"Sit down, my lad." said Markis as he patted the seat to the stone bench. "I sent a messenger hawk to Lord Devon. He said that he would not allow his son to compete in a dangerous tournament."

"It is not his place to decide what I do. He has never done that before, so why now?" said Justin as he turned his back on the Lord Mayor.

"He said that he would be sending men to come get you in a fortnight's time. They will return you to Northguard for a short while as your father's servants will train you. He doesn't want you injured in the tournament." said Markis as he looked at the boys face. "He loves you that much."

"He never has loved me, even when I was a boy." said Justin as he pounded his hand into a stone statue of a warrior.

"I know that it may not seem to be the best choice right now, but he is your father, and I will respect anything that the man says." said the Lord Mayor. Justin turned around. He opened his mouth, but bit his lip. "You know..." began the Lord Mayor. "There is a spot in the tournament taht after the knight has won, a peasant, or someone from the crowds may challenge him. Frankly there is nothing I can do to stop a person who goes out from the crowds. So.."

Justin smiled. "Thank you, Mayor." He bowed and and rose. A hand stopped him from moving forward. The Lord Mayor looked at him seriously.

"If you get killed, I will raise you from the dead and kill you again." They both laughed.

Erik was walking through the gardens. He was looking for Justin. It was a day before the tournament and he wondered what role Justin would partake in it. Erik saw Justin sitting with his knees up to his head and he was fuming. Erik waltzed up behind him and jumped onto the stone wall that separated them from each other.

"So, going to join the tournament?" asked Erik.

Justin glared at him.

"I guess not..."

"Read this." demanded Justin as he handed a letter.

"What is this?" asked Erik.

"My good old father, sent a message telling that any involvement, besides being a bystander will be harshly dealt with." sighed Justin.

"That is not very fun." said Erik glancing through the parchment.

"That's not the worst of it. He paid for an instant teleport from the Silver Council for three of his associates to be ported here in a few hours." Siad Justin glaring.

"Seriously?"

"Aye."

Erik sat the paper down and sat next to him. "Well..."

"Well what? I can't be in it."

"Well..." began Erik. "You could just do it anyway. What's the worst he can do?"

Justin stared at Erik. "I have heard stories about my father. He has done... unspeakable things to people. Torture, murder, and even burning a whole village to the ground with everyone inside their houses." Justin's fist clenched. "Who knows what he would do to his own son."

"He wouldn't do... no... He was supposed to be Lord Mayor."

"Aye, but he is still a Lord Mayor of Garrik's Hallow to the North." said Justin. "Who knows what he did to get that position."

"He probably killed him, the Lord Mayor of Garrik's Hallow, I mean." said Erik awaiting a quick retort.

"I have no doubt of it." said Justin staring at the gardens.

Devon sat in a lavish dining room in his mansion at North Guard. He took off the mask that he wore and showed the slightly rejuvenated, yet twisted scarred face. Taking a glass of wine, he sat back and looked at his guests at the table and took a sip. All eyes were upon him.

"Take it in, gentlemen." he said with a laugh. "See what wizardry has come to. Used to kill those that they dislike. How pathetic don't you think, From?" he said looking at his servant From.

"Indeed, very pathetic, Lord Devon." he said with a bow as he picked up a glass and filled it with fresh wine.

"Yes it is." He looked into the wine glass.

"Sir, Devon," said an elderly man from the back of the room.

"Ah, yes, brother Faris?"

We in the Falcon Watch sect of the Mortis et Arcana were wondering when we will strike."

"Aye, milord." said another from beside Faris, "We are ready, you have returned. Shouldn't we strike now?"

"Lord Devon has been very busy with..." but From was silenced by the raised hand of Devon.

He took a sip from a wine glass and simply said, "We shall strike soon. My agents have infiltrated the City of Magi," a mummer went around the table several men grunted and some stood amazed, "and they have placed the necromancers in very high seats of power."

"Lord, Devon," said one man who wore a green tunic with a small group of others like him, "how did you find Magi? It is the secret city of Wizards. Nobody that is not a wizard ever returns. How?"

"I have my sources as you have yours. Satisfied Yurik?"

"Aye, milord." he said sitting down.

"Yes," began Devon, "Soon, my revenge will take place, and even Kas Silverkin of the Silver Council in all his mighty power can not stop me now."

"Lord Devon," said a rather pale and skinny man at the table," I have a question that some of my associates were wondering. How did you survive such a devastating attack?"

Devon became silent and laughed. "You of all people, Kathis, never should have spoken at this table tonight. You talked to them right before." He took another sip.

"What... What?!" said Kathis his face turning pale.

Devon clapped his hands and through the large double doors came in armored men with crossbows. They each pointed at Kathis.

"What Kathis?" asked Devon. "Why so pale? How did you spend the fifty drakes that they payed you?" The men at the table stood and moved behind Devon. The Crossbowmen wore chain with black tabards and masked helmets and all pointed at Kathis. "Answer me now!" bellowed Devon.

"I- It... I don't!" yelled Kathis as he backed up against a wall.

"Tell me now, Kathis! What did you spend it on? Or wait, was my source wrong and I was worth more?" shouted Devon as he stood. His scarred face contorted from the shouting.

"Please, milord, mercy!" cried Kathis.

"No, you came to the wrong man for mercy." said Devon.

"Curse you to hell, Darklord!" cried Kathis.

"See you there." said Devon as he sat down and took his wine glass and sipped a little. "Get it over with."

Bolts raced across the room and hit Kathis all over. The repeater crossbows continued to fire and riddle the body with more bolts. Finally as the life was fading from Kathis, Devon motioned for someone to move forward. It was an old man in a gray robe who walked over to Kathis's body and laid his hands on him. A brief flash of yellow light filled the room and the old man looked at Devon, "He will live."

"Good. Take him to the dungeons and heal him back to normal once all the bolt wounds have healed let my men have some target practice with him, and repeat the process until I see fit to let him die." said Devon as he motioned for them to leave. The guards picked up the body and exited and blood smeared the carpet as they walked through the mighty double doors.. "Now, who is ready for the roasted boar?"

Justin watched as the festivities of the tournament went on. Children laughed and played on the sidelines and the commoners gathered and anxiously awaited to see the knights arive to compete for the grand prize. Soldiers lined up along the seats of the Lord Mayor and his wife and the councilors. People were cheering and shouting as the knights rode out on horseback. Each had a long banner with a family people roared and cheered, jesters entertained the masses. Food was everywhere. It was a time of happiness, yet Justin knew the real reason of this. To find a suitable rescuer of the princess. He sighed as he saw the knights out there. He wanted to be there too, but his father forbade. He kicked the wooden stands in anger. He was wearing his army uniform and saw no reason to wear the chainmail underneath since he was not to compete.

Erik approached him, "I doubt anything is going to happen today, because they already got who they wanted. Why come back?"

"Who cares." said Justin gloomily.

"Well, excuse me, brother."

"What?"

"Get over it." said Erik looking at the nights.

"Over what?" said Justin.

"Oh, your little angst over competing." Justin grew quiet and Erik looked at the knights gathering in front of the Lord Mayor. "Well, let the best knight win."

The Lord Mayor stood and smiled to the knights and the crowds. He raised his arms and bellowed, "Let the tournament begin!" the crowd roared in response. The knights nodded and dismounted. Each wore chainmail and a tabard and each fancied a longsword. They all gathered in a circle and stepped backwards fifty spaces. Then the Lord Mayor raised his arms and cried, "Begin!" The knights rushed at one another. It was a free for all. Most lost their weapons in the first few minutes and began to brawl it out hand to hand. the crowds roared when a knight was unable to fight any longer and passed out. Some hobbled away with sword wounds to the medics on the sidelines. Others grabbed their fallen friends and shuffled as fast as they could out of the melee. Finally, one stood alone out there. Justin smiled as he saw Sir Ulrich standing with his eyepatch in his hand. Apparently someone snatched it off. He walked towards the Lord Mayor. Kas Silverkin appeared next to the Lord Mayor. He clutched his side and blood seeped through the tunic. "Hello, Markis." said Kas as he sat down.

"Kas, you have returned just in time to see... you're bleeding." said the Lord Mayor.

"Say nothing of it. A long story for some other time."

"I have finished your task, milord." said Sir Ulrich.

"Indeed," said the Lord Mayor, "Does anyone wish to challenge Sir Ulrich?" the crowd cheered as a man stepped forward he wore a grey tunic and walked forward with a longsword in hand.

"I challenge Sir Ulrich." said the man. Justin rolled his eyes.

"Very, well, as is our tradition, we allow anyone who wants to challenge the victor." The two men walked to the center of the field and the crowds cheered and whooped and hollerd at the newcomer.

The Lord Mayor signaled it to begin. The two bashed each other's shield and splinters went battle was lasting minutes. Each were hammering the other. The newcomer was winning though, but Justin saw something glowing in the man's eyes.

"Great One." said Justin as he ran to tell Erik. He found him and pulled him aside. "The newcomer is a chaos knight! I saw his eyes glow red!"

"What?!" cried Erik. He shouted, "Guards! Sieze the newcomer, get him away from Sir Ulrich!"

Several guards rushed the field, but it was too late. The chaos knight stabbed Ulrich through the chest and withdrew the sword. The Crowd gasped and screams were heard. Justin and Erik rushed the field along with the guards, but the chaos knight laughed and cried something in dark elfin and he raised his hand and flames jutted forth and engulfed several guards. They fell to the ground as charred remains and writhed in agony.

"A murder, just like the prophecy." said Kas with his eyes opened wide. Orb floated form out of his satchel.

"Is the hero found yet?" said Orb as he floated excitedly.

"No, now keep down." demanded Kas as he watched the guards storm the field. "One of those out there is the hero, and the savior of your daughter."

"What?" yelled the Lord Mayor. "You knew this was going to happen?! Why didn't we prevent it?!"

"You do not hinder prophecy, that is why the unwise do not have access to the Scrolls of Unithor." said Kas matter of factly. "Trust me, if we interfered, we would all be doomed."

The Lord Mayor sighed and watched the battle ensue.

Justin stood back as a fireball engulf three others. There were only six others left including him and Erik. Justin lunged forward, but had to dodge another fireball. The mad cackling of the chaos knight could be heard over the flame and black, billowing smoke.

"Everyone, get back! I will take care of him!" said Justin.

"That is crazy!" cried Erik.

"Shut up and get back!" said Justin as a fireball hit Erik. Erik engulfed in flames and collapsed to the ground. "Curse it!" Bellowed Justin as he ran full speed and tackled the chaos knight. The knight crashed to the ground, but kicked Justin off of him. Justin rolled in the dirt, and cursed under his breath, but he got up and ran at him and clashed his sword against the knight's. He sweeped upward, but the knight parried it and cut Justin's left arm. Justin pulled back and renewed his attack. Even though he hit the swords against each other repeatedly, he could not break the knight's will. The Knight laughed.

"Just die, fool." said the knight as he continued to relentlessly hack at Justin. Justin stumbled onto the ground.

Kas watched anxiously as he saw Justin stumbled. He rolled his hands into fists. "This is not the one. There has to be another. He is finished!" he thought aloud.

Justin swung his sword in a last ditch effort, but the knight knocked the sword from his hands. Justin lay without weapon and prone. The knight laughed and raised his sword. Justin thought of anything that he could do. So he took the only option that was left. He kicked the knight in the groin. The knight howled in pain and Justin rolled over and grabbed his sword. The knight staggered to stand straight up, but by that time, Justin was back up and ready to fight.

"You'll regret that boy." said the knight through gritted teeth. His eyes burned red, and the tunic had already turned into black plate armor.

"Do your worst, knight." said Justin holding his sword in both hands ready for attack.

The knight yelled and charged Justin. Justin blocked and hacked into the plate, but it did little to wound the knight. Justin knew that he would have to pierce the armor, not blugeon.

Orb nudged Kas, "He is quite resourceful."

"Yes, but he is not worthy of being a hero." said Kas clutching his side.

Justin bashed the knight repeatedly, but the sword did barely anything to the bulky armor. Justin cursed and continued to attack, but the knight kicked him in the chest, and Justin landed on the ground a few yards from the knight. Justin could not breathe or lift his sword. The knight laughed and said, "How sad, boy. You were doing so well."

Kas sighed and lowered his head, "And now it is over..."

The knight ran at Justin with his sword up. Justin tried to move his arms to defend himself, but could do nothing.

"Kas you got to do something!" cried Markis.

"He has failed." said Kas.

The knight drew closer. Justin couldn't feel his arms.

"Curse you wizard, he is just a boy!" cried Markis.

"He knew what would happen if he failed." reasoned Kas.

The knight was close. Justin remembered his life, but only that with the Princess and Erik. everything else was blotted out. He remembered the beauty of the princess. He remembered meeting Erik. He remembered it all. He was ready to die. He did not feel bad. He, in fact, felt good, and even smiled, but somehow, whether it was impulse or some sheer act of the supernatural. He lunged his sword forward and stabbed all the way through the knight. The knight dropped his sword and fell on his back. He gargled blood, but then lied still. Justin rose, and the crowd roared in cheers. The people rushed the field and clapped and cheered and yelled. Justin was lifted up on the shoulders of the people, and medics rushed to get the wounded. Erik even limped with the help of two medics towards Justin and gave a smile. At that moment all other sounds died out except for Erik's voice which said, "You won."

Standing in the wooden stands was Kas and Orb. Kas shook his head and laughed. tears welled in his eyes. He turned to Orb and said, "We have a hope."

"Indeed." said Orb floating towards Kas.

"Come, Orb, we must go." said Kas wiping the tears form his eyes. "We have much work to do." he said as he walked away with Orb tailing behind him, and as they walked they both seemed to disappear into golden dust.

_**And thus, the heroes shall come. They will cleanse the lands of darkness. They are the last hope. They will either fail or succeed. The answer, I will not say, for what fun is it to know the end of a story before it is written. And this, Oh people of Arith, ends the last prophecy.**_

_**END OF THE SCROLLS OF UNITHOR**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter: Four Escape from a Father's Love**

Justin sat next to Erik who lay in a bed.

"You look like as sick as an orc." said Justin smiling.

"Oh shut up you." said Erik returning the smile. "So, I suppose that congratulations are in order."

"Well, I was just doing my job of being in the army." said Justin shrugging.

Erik laughed, but then began a fit of coughing. "Don't you think that it was, curious? You know, the knight appearing out of no where?"

"Well, it made perfect sense to try and murder the victor, but yeah, it is curious that it played out like that." Justin looked out the stone window.

"Aye, it's like the Great One interfered, haha."

"Aye." said Justin slowly.

From the entrance to Erik's room came a cough that demanded attention. Justin and Erik turned to see an old man with a long white bear and green robes. He carried a gnarled wooden walking staff and his hair covered some of his face. The man walked forward while a blue floating rock orbited around him.

"Hello, Justin." said the man.

"Greetings." said Justin standing.

"I do not think that you know me, but I am Kas Silverkin, leader of the Silver Council of Wizards, and Arch Warlock of Magi." He nodded as some sort of a bow.

Justin bowed. "I am honored. What brings one of such stature to Marketton of all places?"

The wizard sat on a wooden chair, and took off his grey pointed cap. "I am here for you, actually."

"Me? For what reasons?"

The wizard laughed. "He is still oblivious." hummed the floating rock.

"You are very special, my boy. Have you heard of the prophecies of Unithor the Seer?" inquired the wizard.

Justin shrugged, "I have heard about them, I know nothing of them, sir."

"Of course." sighed the wizard. "There is an ancient prophecy foretelling the rise of a great evil. There are to be six heroes from each fortress of Gard the Conquerer. They are to be the ones to help aid in the defense and offense of this land, and you, Justin are one of them." The wizard muttered something and waved his hand and a pipe appeared in his hands, and the wizard began to casually smoke. "This may come as a shock to you..."

"WHAT?!" roared Justin.

Several hours had passed and wizard was still sitting, but his pipe had long since ran cold. "Yes, Justin, you are the chosen hero of Marketton. There is no denying it."

"How can I possibly believe some old man who walks in and tells me something like this? Well?" yelled Justin.

"You believe in the Great One, yes? So why not have a little faith in this"great one?"

"You dare blaspheme the..."

"No! I am trying to get through your thick skull that you are the one that the prophecy foretold! I have told you the prophecies, I have told you where you fit in! Why do you not believe?"

"It is simple. I just don't trust you, old man. No matter how wise you are. How do you even know there is an darkness that with cover the land?"

The wizard stood and said, "The evil, is the Witch Lord! He has returned!"

"But, Gard and you placed his soul in the Pillar of Eskardd..."

"Yes, that is true, but his followers returned and released his soul. He is back, and you will help save this land."

"How can I believe such a ludicrous story?!" yelled Justin.

Erik grunted, "Justin. Listen to the man. He is a wizard, he knows..."

"Yeah, and they are the ones that tried to kill my father, Devon Darklord!" accused Justin.

"Devon Darklord?" said Kas. "He was the one who is helping the..." Kas stopped and said, "Justin, you must come with me, now. Tell me, are any of you father's associates here, in the city?"

"Yeah," began Justin, "They are here. Why do you want me to come with you?"

"I have no time to explain, but for both of us, you must come now. We must flee the city, they will be looking for us." Kas put on his hat and picked up his staff and motioned for Justin to follow.

"Explain, now, wizard. What does this all mean?"

The wizard sighed. "Your father wants to put to death and kill every single magic user. He has been hunting them long before he was even attacked by them. Devon brutally murdered hundreds of my fellow colleagues long before the rogue wizards tried to murder him. He will kill me and you, if he has the chance."

"Me? Why would he kill me?" asked Justin.

"Your father hates those even associated with wizards. He will kill you."

"But, I haven't even agreed to follow you. I have -"

"A choice, yes." said the wizard walking up to him. "You can choose to stay here, and try to rescue the princess, and possibly succeed, and live a normal life here and then die here..." the wizard paused. "Or, you can follow me, save the princess, travel the world, see amazing sights, overthrow the evil, save your people, and be a hero." He placed his hands on the boy's shoulders. "My boy, I know it is a lot to take in and understand, but your choice will choose the destiny of all people, not just yours."

"Will I survive the challenges that await me? Will I return to Marketton?" asked Justin.

"I do not know, young Justin. All I know is what I tell you, now I ask again, yes, or no?"

Justin bit his lip, but he felt a hand lay on his shoulder. He turned and saw Erik.  
"Justin. Go." said Erik. "I can handle things here. I can explain to the Lord Mayor. Go, and live out your destiny."

"But, what of you?"

"I will remain here for a while, but I will find you as soon as I can. I will join you in your quest. Just go, and all will unfold."

Justin paused, but then looked into the eyes of the old man. "I will go."

"Excellent. You have your sword and you are dressed, good. Now, we fly." The wizard turned and headed towards the door.

"Until we meet again, brother." said Erik.

"Goodbye my brother." said Justin shaking Erik's hand. He released and followed the wizard.

They started to descend the stairwell, and Kas started to unravel the plan. "No doubt, your father has sent necromancers to work for him here, to be his eyes and ears, and transport men here if need be to defend you."

"I thought that he hated magic users?" said Justin trying to catch his breath.

"Yes, but some magic users like him." said the wizard. "No doubt they have opened portals, and Devon's elites may be here already, and they will try to kill us for I am the leader of the Silver Council. A kill such as that would be a decisive blow to the wizards. So strong a blow that he could possibly take control."

"Where do we go then?" said Justin.

"To open a portal, you must be outside. If one is inside, the closing of one would result of a great explosion because of the close quarters, and the magic powers would have nowhere to dissipate."

"What?"

"Hopefully you will never have to see." said Kas as they finally reached teh ground level. They walked down the large stone corridor. They rounded the corner and saw a whole line of men with crossbows aimed at them. In the middle was a man wearing black, and his face was covered with a skull. The men wore chainmail and a black tabard with a gray moon with a longsword through it. The bolts were tipped with a bag of some sorts, and a small candle was lit on the end of the crossbow far from the fuse that led to the bag. The man began to clap.

"Very well done, Silverkin."

"So, you have come." said Kas. "Does the Lord Mayor know that you are here, or have you forced entry?"

"Oh, I merely wandered inside, I am quite lost, but I am sure I can find my way around here."

"Indeed, Darklord." said Kas.

Justin cringed. This was his father? The man clothed in a black robe and a hood with a skull in it? No. It couldn't be.

"Silverkin, unhand my son, or I will kill you." said the Devon raising his hand. As he did this several men at arms ran forward with the same insignia on their tabards.

"No, the boy is coming with me." said Kas.

"Justin, come to your father." said Devon with his arms opening in welcome. "Do not go with that man, he tried to kill me, my boy."

Justin shook. He did not know what to do.

"What is wrong, Justin? What has he done to you?" shouted Devon.

"Enough!" shouted Kas as he cried something in Elfin. Devon shouted for the crossbowmen to shoot. Their bolts raced down the corridor and the fuses were ignited. They began to explode in random places. The corridor was filled with smoke. Devon's men continued to fire their bolts down the hallway of smoke and ash. Devon turned to look at the carnage. The walls were being blown to pieces, Devon ordered them to stop.

"Men, charge and decapitate the wizard and bring me my son." he said drawing his sword.

The men shouted as they charged. Through the smoke came a whoosh of air, and Devon saw the wizard holding onto Justin as he flew down the corridor. Within feet of him, Devon swung, but missed as the wizard flew down the corridor and turned.

"Curses!" shouted Devon. "Folow them and kill that bloody wizard!"

Kas and Justin raced by the servants and the guards, and soon reached the main doors to the courtroom, and after that, to safety. They landed and began to run towards the doors, but before they reached them, soldiers rushed through the doors; they were led by a bandaged Sir Ulrich. "What the heck is goin' on 'round here, lad? And who in the name of Gard is he!?" said Sir Ulrich pointing at the wizard.

"There is no time to explain, but there are trespassers here in your castle." said Kas.

"Why should I listen to you, pointy head?" sneered Ulrich as he lifted a sword, but quickly jerked in pain.

"Sir Ulrich, he is telling the truth. My father is here, and he just tried to kill us." said Justin.

"What? Darklord is here?" said Ulrich, but just before he spoke another word, crossbowmen came from the other door, and they shouted and aimed their weapons."Oy! Wait just a minute now!" said Ulrich as he stepped forward, but one of the crossbowmen fired a bolt at him. Sir Ulrich grunted and caught it in his hands. He saw the fuse and cursed under his breath and lobbed it back at them. It exploded and sent chunks of stone hurling in different directions. Sir Ulrich turned and said to Justin, "You two get out of here, we will hold 'em off, at least 'till the shadow watch come."

"But, you..." sputtered Justin.

"Go, boy!" said Ulrich as he pushed him away.

Justin nodded and they both darted through the doors as Ulrich and his guards held off the swarm of Devon's soldiers. They raced down the corridor and passed some frightened servants. They kept running until the reached the main two double doors. Kas waved his hand and they flew open and revealed the sunlight and the streets of Marketton. Kas then took hold of Justin and said, "Close your eyes!" Just as bolts began to rain from the upper parapets from where the crossbowmen were stationed by Devon, and just before the first one struck them, they disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Devon cursed from the upper parapets and marched inside. He went straight to the throne room followed by the rest of his entourage, and upon reaching it he found most of his men huddled in a circle and surrounded by Marketton soldiers. He saw the room in complete diss-array, chairs and tables were overturned and bolts pierced every wooden spot. Blackened remains from where the explosive went off showed a few unlucky pieces of furniture that caught the full brunt of the explosions. He saw the Lord Mayor stomp in and roar, "What is this?!"

Devon removed his skull mask, and his face was slightly less scarred but was still missing parts of a nose and an ear. He opened his arms and said, "Markis!"

"Darklord?" coughed the Lord Mayor. "Was this your doing?" He waved across the room.

"Is that some way to treat a guest who has come a long way?"

"Is this what you do to your hosts?!" cried the Lord Mayor.

"I am sorry about this... mess, but I assure you that I will not be here long, and you will be compensated." said Devon as he approached the throne and sat down in lazily.

"Excuse me, but why have you done this?" roared the Lord Mayor.

"Now, now, Markis, why must we yell? Can't we just be civil?"

"You call barging into someone's town armed and storming his castle civil? Has your injury made you insane?"

"No, it hasn't." said Devon as he sat upright in the throne. "I came for my son, because I heard that he was involved in the tournament, after I forbade it. Is this true?"

"He was doing his job." said Markis.

"How convenient."

"It was not my fault, how dare you accuse me of anything. I have the right mind to ban you from this town, but..."

"You remember what I did for you all those years ago, yes? I placed you here in this position, you owe me your life, Markis, and don't ever forget that, because it can be easily taken away just like that." he snapped and leaned back in the throne. "Now, as I was saying, I came here for my son, to return him to Garrik's Hollow for training, but he was kidnapped, by Kas Silverkin."

"I would hardly say kidnapped. He left on his own free will." said Sir Ulrich.

"Hold your tongue, knave. You forget your place." said Devon through gritted teeth. "I will leave, but I want to know this: where will I find my son?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Five: A change of Perspective**

Justin gasped for air as he fell to the ground. He looked around him and saw Kas lightly land on the grass of a meadow. He saw the tall trees around them. Standing, Justin saw the battlements of the outer wall of Marketton. He surmised that they must have teleported to the woods to the north of Marketton. Kas walked up behind him and placed his hand on Justin's shoulder.

"Come, we must go." he said turning around to leave.

"Where are we going?" Justin inferred.

The wizard stopped and said, "To a friend's house, and to someone who can help you."

The two walked into the woods and traveled for half an hour. Justin spoke.

"How come you didn't just teleport us to the house? Why do we tromp through the woods in this fashion?"

"You simply cannot teleport onto any area. You can teleport somewhere and if you miss-teleport, then you can have a branch through your body, or a rock through your foot. Every wizard knows that."

Justin walked a little more and paused, "Wait, you have been around for a thousand years,"

"Yes?"

"And you have not perfected a spell?"

The wizard paused and said, "Everyone isn't perfect. Even, I, Kas Silverkin, cannot many a thing. Now come. I will answer your questions later." They continued to march through the woods. Finally they came to a small meadow and within was a small cottage made from stones and sticks, and it had a thatched roof with a smoking chimney on top. Behind the hovel were two guard dogs lazily sleeping in the shade of a nearby tree and a small chicken coop. To each side were small pens with some sheep and rams within. "This is it."

As they approached the dogs stood up and growled as they drew near, but they soon stopped as if they recognized Kas and playfully ran up next to him. Kas stooped down and pet them both.

"Why hallo Titus!" the other dog jumped into his arms. The wizard grunted, "Hallo Thor."

As he said this, the door to the cottage opened and out came a small man. As Justin got a better glimpse at him, he realized that it wasn't a man. The creature looked like a man, but he was much shorter and had a red peaked cap on. The man was chubby and sported a long grey beard and round spectacles upon his nose. The creature laughed and raised his arms in welcome. Kas walked toward the little man who stood up to Kas's waist and stooped down and gave him a hug.

"Why 'ello Kas!" said the creature happily in a high pitched voice. "Why, it's been ages, no?"

"Twenty years?" said Kas.

"Surely it wasn't that long." said the creature patting Kas's shoulder. "Now, who's yer friend?"

Justin walked towards him but he could not summon the courage to speak to him.

"This is Justin Darklord." said Kas.

"Darklord?" mumbled the creature. "Named after his father no doubt. Doesn't have one lick of evil in 'em... Well c'mon let's go inside and have a mug or two and reminisce." The creature herded them inside and continued to make small talk with Kas. "Um, Kalvin should be joining us shortly."

"Ah, good, how is the young lad?" asked Kas.

"Well, he is not young anymore, plus you may know him better as the White Ferret." said the creature.

"As who?" asked Justin.

Kas looked over at Justin. "Around this region he has many names, you most likely know him as the White Mouse."

"Why, yes I do know about him. The city guard has had a bloody time trying to catch him." said Justin thinking.

"Aye, but they never will, you see." said the short man. "Me magic works well, almost as good as old Kas's here." the man sat back in a small chair built just for him.

"Indeed, in a few years you shall catch up with me." said Kas with a smile.

"Ha! Don't mock me. You know as well as I do that gnomish magic works differently than human or elf magic." said the gnome.

"So, he is a gnome," thought Justin.

"What do you mean, different?" said Justin aloud.

The gnome looked at Kas and nodded at him, "You can explain it better than I."

"You see, all magic is different." began Kas. "Magic is an aura, a life force so to say. It is everywhere and in everything. Some things are more susceptible or resistant to magic. Gnomish magic is based off of alchemy and illusions, whereas elfin magic is based from more environmental magic, and human is more about from ourselves, and our own life force. Gnomish magic needs ingredients and tools, elfin magic requires objects of power, and human magic requires your own life force. Now, there are many different schools and classes of magic, but I know that you have heard of those two, human and elfin."

"I see." said Justin, "So what is dark elfin magic derived from?"

Kas and the gnome paused and looked at Justin.

The gnome spoke, "Dark elves are a different sect of magic users. They use both human and elfin magic together, although they created the "human" style of magic, they require objects of power, but they use their own life force to magnify the magic to utilize its destructive tendencies."

"As you can see," picked up Kas, "it is not a pretty form of magic."

After this Justin stayed quiet. The gnome and Kas talked for a long time, and Justin patiently sat and looked around the room. It was a circular room and was tall enough for a human to stand up in. He saw a table with tools used for alchemy and magic and he saw a small bookcase with scrolls and books. Next to the bookcase was a small fireplace that had a roaring fire and a small kettle sitting on the top. He noticed that the gnome was cooking food for them to eat. Looking around the room some more he noticed three beds, each were small, but the pillows and sheets were nicely made. He then noticed some large bunk beds in a corner that were able to support five to eight humans. Justin wondered about the beds, but noticed someone or someones coming through the wooden door.

"Humblefellow!" said one of the men in green that marched through the door. Each was clad in a green tunic and bandannas around their face. Justin was startled when he saw the long swords and bows by their sides and on their backs, but the gnome gave a smile and heartily welcomed them.

"Ah! Kalvin, you and yer fine crew have come!" said the gnome happily. "My, my we should eat outside tonight!"

"Indeed," said the man holding up two deer, "We should have enough for all twenty eight of us." The man suddenly looked surprised as he saw Justin. "Who is this one?" he asked pointing.

Kas stood and the man noticed him and relaxed a little as if he recognized him.

"He is Justin Darklord..." said Kas but he was interrupted by the man.

"Darklord? He is the boy the whole bloody city is looking for?" said the man.

"The whole town is looking for me?" said Justin surprised.

"Aye, they say that you defected from the army and you are being possessed by a wizard, Kas." he said looking at Kas questioningly.

The wizard sighed. "His father's lies have already spread this far?"

"Lies? I thought so. I knew that Kas would never do something like that." The man removed his bandanna. "So, who is the lad?" the man had a goatee. He was young, barely into his twenties.

Kas spoke up.

"Remove your men. We must speak alone. This must be kept a secret for at least a while." The man did as he asked and waved his arm in dismissal. As the men left the wizard began to speak. "Thank you." He paused and motioned for him to sit down. The man looked at the gnome as if looking for approval, and the gnome heartily agreed and motioned to sit down on a wooden bench. "This is Justin Darklord, one of the Chosen Six from the legends of Unithor the Seerer."

"Ah." said Kalvin. "And so you want the White Ferret to train this boy in the ways of the forest." Kas nodded. "I surmised because of the look of him. He is army trained; that will make the job a little easier, but the retraining will be like going to hell and back. Plus, he is noble blood. We must bleed that out of him." said the man smiling.

Humblefellow spoke. "Aye, he needs to be trained in the ways of the wild. It will make his future life a lot easier, and Kalvin can teach him, and I can teach him, a little of alchemy and illusions. Nothing of the magic sort, but something to at least get him through the wilds."

Justin arose and the room went silent, all that could be heard was the boiling of the simmering stew. "What about the Princess Annalesia? She has been captive for almost a week. Great One knows what has happened to her, or what those beasts have done to her."

"She will be saved when you are ready to go out there." said Kas.

"Do not worry about her, worry about you for now," said Kalvin, "I have my men keeping watch over Ogre Foot making sure that she is uninjured. We have two weeks before anything is scheduled with her. They still think that your father has you, not Kas, but they will soon learn that you are not with him, thanks to Devon."

"Who are they?" asked Justin.

"They is the Order of Chaos. A group of corrupted knights that have sold their lives for immortality from the Witch Lord in return for their everlasting loyalty." said Kas.

"Besides that, you are still green, and I will not let you even think of letting you rescue the princess until you are trained to listen to the land." said Kalvin matter of fact.

"Wait," said Justin, "if your men are keeping watch over her and making sure she is fine, why don't you rescue her? Why wait for me and my training."

"Prophecy." said Kas. "Simple as that. If you do not fulfill a prophecy, there is no point in any of this. We must wait and see if you succeed. We can only train you and not interfere."

The gnome nodded, "And train you we shall." he cackled and stood, "Now, who is ready to feast?"

The Witch Lord sat and listened to his council. He was within a dark stone chamber lit by torches. Orcs, goblins, humans, and other hideous creatures sat around the table, each looked twisted and insane, but each had a trace of cunning in their eyes, a brutal savagery that the Witch Lord liked in each of his officers. They sat at a long oaken table. They had food and drink around them. Goblins rushed around and served the captains and officers as quick as they could to avoid abuse. One man who had a fair face who was clothed in black and had a flowing black cape with a skull insignia as the clasps rose and spoke.

"Necromancers have always been your humble servants, ever since you helped us in the Dark Times, we have pledged our undying loyalty to you. Even though the Silver Council does not know this, we have positions of high power and influence within the Realm of Mahlan. Our time to rise to power is nigh. We have allies ready to serve us in your name if it be your will, of honored one." With this he bowed and sat."

The Witch Lord mused with this thought, but quickly said, "No, not yet. We need the wizards to be there for the wars that are to come. They must be unspoiled and united... for now." The Witch Lord took a sip of wine. As he did this a man stood. He was also clothed in black, but looked like skeleton with his stretched skin.

"Milord, what of the Princess of Marketton? The Order of Chaos has waited patiently for your plan. We have collected the remains of Skullrihm, and await the command." He bowed and sat.

"Indeed, you have been quite loyal. For that I commend you, but patient... not so much. It has been a mere six days since her capture. I wish to be there myself for the soul transfer. I shall leave in two days time."

"Shall we be teleporting? Shall I tell the necromancers to await summoning?"

The Witch Lord laughed. "Still impatient, my dear knight. No, I shall travel by foot. I wish to see the land that I was imprisoned from for such a long time, and besides," he paused and took a sip from a silver cup, "I need no necromancers to teleport me anywhere. I am quite self-sufficient."

An orc stood, clad in leathers, and spoke. "What about my clan. We have been wanting to take back our land from the human trespassers." all the orcs and goblins grunted in agreement.

The Witch Lord sighed and said, "As I have answered all of the questions. In due time! Now all of you leave! You try my patience." He waved his arm and all stood quickly and uniformly exited each talking to the other. The Witch Lord stood and walked to a room behind him. It was empty save for a large throne facing a fireplace and to the right and the left a balcony view of his fortress of Barak Torr. He sighed and sat down. Growing restless he arose and went to his left towards the balcony and said a word in elfin and the stone moved and formed a door. He walked through it and into a bedroom chambers where inside there was a large bed with furs amassed and another fireplace illuminating the room filled with bookshelves. He sat on the bed, and a figure took shape in front of him. It was a beautiful woman with long shimmering blonde hair. She wore a black robe and looked astonishing. She was the epitome of beauty.

"Hello, Zane." she said moving closer to him.

"Hello, my love." he said standing and walking towards her.

"How goes the matters of Barak Torr, oh great Lord of Darkness." she said with a stunning smile.

The Witch Lord smiled.

"What is wrong? No witty retort?" she asked as she sat on the bed.

The Witch Lord sat beside her. "It... I was just taking in your beauty, my love." he said raising his arm to caress her hair, but he stopped and put the hand down.

"You were imprisoned within that stone for a very long time, oh, how I missed you." she said standing and moving towards the fireplace.

"Yes, but I have returned, and we can begin anew." he said trying to speak comfort.

"I know but..." she stopped.

"What is it? What upsets you?" asked the Witch Lord.

She wiped a tear from her eye. "I just... It will never be like it once was. We are both old. Hundreds of years, between the both of us. We have seen our share of lifetimes. Why must you destroy Westguard? Why is it so important to see Westguard in flames, for sheer amusement? Sometimes I don't know why you do these wretched things, Zane."

"You know the answer. Kas must pay for what he did to me. What he did to you!" He stood and walked towards her. She turned around and threw herself at him, but she merely passed through him. The Witch Lord stood with his arms out, but he lowered them and sighed. "The old man loves Westguard. It is the land that he made using that fool Gard. He loves the land more than anything else. He would loose sight of everything. It would be the perfect vengeance."

"But at what cost?"

"Everything!" he growled as he turned around. She grew silent. He drew closer to her. "He cursed you, just because you loved me. He cursed his own daughter to walk the world forever as a ghost, because I murdered his love by chance."She sighed. "I know that my father cursed me. I feel betrayed like never before, but does it give you leave to ruin the lives of your men, and the lives of your victims just to get back at Kas Silverkin?"

"Alahna." He looked at her with piercing eyes. "I would sacrifice every last one of my men and every last person in the world to destroy him and what he loves." He stopped. "I would also go to the ends of the earth to rejuvenate you back to your human form, and the plan has already been set."

"Was Thallis not enough?" she said with tears. "Was this land not enough to satiate your blood thirst?"

"The old man loved the Thallese, thus I killed them and took their land as my own. I curse them for driving me back, but I came back and drove them from their own land and made their fallen comrades into soldiers for my army." said the Witch Lord.

"So, you wish to do the same to Westguard?" she asked.

"Oh no, A worse fate shall befall them." he said.

"Why do you curse them? Why not just kill Kas?" she said.

The Witch Lord paused, "He loves them. To torture them is to torture him. I can not best the old man in magic, but I can hurt the people that he loves as I have done to his wife and brother."

"My mother and uncle." she said softly.

He rushed up to her and put his mouth close to her ear and said, "I thought you were with me by my side through everything. But now you speak like this, like I am a monster or something."

She started to cry and turned around and sobbed. "Of course, forgive me my love. I should be standing with you not against you. Kas destroyed you and your ambition for magic, and forbade me to be with you. He cast you out. He cursed you and your name that it shall always be looked upon as evil. Oh my love." she cried.

"There, there my love." he said walking past her and picking up a sword. "I forgive you."

"Thank you, Zane." she sobbed and sat on the bed.

"Now, on to the matters at hand." he said coolly.

She looked up. "Matters?"

"Yes, of you rejuvenation and rejoining the living."

Justin sat down on a mat laid out on the floor of Humblefellow's house. The feast was over and Justin had a full day ahead of him in training. Kalvin said that it would be at least of week of training in the wild. Justin dreaded it, but was ready for it nonetheless. He began to drift of into sleep, and soon dreamed of his days of being a child, and he slept well hat night than he had in years.

Devon paced the halls of his keep. He finally walked into the throne room and was greeted by a man in black clothing.

"Hail, Darklord." said the man with a low bow.

"Hail. Proceed, no one knows of the meeting but you and I." said Devon sitting on the throne.

The man held out an orb. It had fire that danced within. It then glowed and spoke.

"Darklord...." it said in a raspy hiss.

"Yes, demon." he said with a sneer.

"You have but ten months to kill the one's who killed you. Your time is running short..." it said slowly.

Darklord laughed and said, "Demon, I have already killed three of the five that murdered me. I but need two more. Quite simple enough."

"Do not play games with your soul Darklord... I may just have to send my demons to protect those wizards..."

"Don't try to bluff with me demon." said Devon quickly. "You want your pound of flesh. You want your payment. You would risk loosing those two souls just yet. I would see you betraying me as soon as I have killed them."

"Indeed" said the orb. "But I will have you know, human, that I would never betray my word. You kill the ones that killed you, and you shall have you life back, wholly. You will no longer be a revenant in constant need of healing."

"And that is what I wait for." said Devon.

The man put the orb into his pocket and bowed. "We shall see you again in a month. Good evening."

The man walked out of the room and disappeared, and Devon sat on his throne, alone.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: Kalvin's Test**

Justin awoke in the middle of the forest. As he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he saw an arrow hit the ground next to him. He jumped up to his feet and noticed Kalvin walking toward him.

"You would sleep through a battle with overgrown trolls." he said as he walked up to him. Kalvin then proceeded to punch him as hard as he could in the stomach. "I told you it would be like going to hell and back." Justin wiped the blood from his mouth and fell to his knees. "Alright, find your way back to the cottage and your training will be done for today." Kalvin then pulled something from his pouch and threw it on the ground and a puff of smoke erupted from the ground. After the smoke cleared, Justin could not see him anywhere

Justin stood back and was awestruck about what just happened. He pulled himself together and stood up. He looked up at the sky and surmised that it was barely even the beginning of the day. He then looked at the ground and looked desperately for tracks. Finally he found some. Justin grinned smugly to himself. "The fool left tracks." He said aloud, and with that, Justin began to march in the direction that the tracks lead.

Kalvin slapped his face and said to his companion, "Does he seriously think I would be that foolish?"

The man laughed. He was older than him and his hair was graying on the sides. "You know that he thinks that he is the smartest creature on this earth. He will soon fall into the pit that we dug while he was asleep." They waited a while and soon they heard a loud scream. "Yes sir, he found it."

"Come, let's dig 'em out." said Kalvin jumping down from the tree.

Justin clutched his arm in pain as he was lead by Kalvin to the cottage.

"Come along. Stop limping. Don't show weakness." said Kalvin as he punched Justin in the shoulder. He fell to the ground and groaned. Kalvin sighed and kept walking. "This is going to be a long week." he said aloud to the older friend.

The old man laughed and said, "Oh come now. He is just a boy, barely the fighting age."

"I know, but I do expect more from the Chosen Six." He said as he blocked a punched from Justin non challant and flung Justin to the dirt.

They finally made it back to the cottage, where there were wooden people set up for training.

"Alright," said Kalvin tossing a sword to Justin, "Show me what you have fighting wise."

Justin caught the sword and smiled as he raised it to Kalvin, "You just crossed over to my forte." As he raised he sword, before he could even get it level with his shoulder, Kalvin knocked it from his hand with a long staff. Justin cursed under his breath from the quickness of the attack. He shuffled to reclaim his sword.

Kalvin sighed, "C'mon, I am... I..." he then gave a fake yawn, "waiting."

Justin growled and charged him. Kalvin didn't even touch him, he merely moved to the side, and Justin flew by and fell to the ground. Kalvin then tapped him on his forehead with the long staff.

"C'mon, get up." He said tapping his forehead. "I really need you to start. You don't seem to be taking this seriously... I mean falling into a hole in the ground and..."

Justin flung his sword at Kalvin, but he didn't even move, Justin's sword missed his head by several centimeters. Kalvin the grabbed his sword hand and pulled him towards him and he held up his fist and punched Justin in the face. Justin fell to the ground and passed out.

"Great One...." said Kalvin looking to the sky.

When Justin came to he was outside where he fist passed out.

"About time." said Kalvin. "You were out and missed lunch." he said waving an empty bowl that once contained soup. "C'mon." said Kalvin standing. "Since you are like a drunk goblin when it comes to fighting, you are to do some exercises."

Justin sighed and felt like crying and tearing Kalvin's head off at the same time, but he got up and followed his teacher's instructions.

"Alright. Do one hundred push ups in a row." He sat down. "Oh yes, if you stop, I'll start the count over again, and if you half do it, I will restart the count as well."

Justin stared at him, and started to laugh.

"I am not joking. Get to it."

Justin sighed and compliantly got to the ground and began.

"One... two... three... four... five... six... sev - ah, ah, ah! Start over." said Kalvin poking his forehead with the long staff. Justin cursed under his breath, but began again, but he was soon stopped again, and again, and again. Half an hour passed and he barely got past twenty before he was told to restart. This continued for an hour and a half.

Justin collapsed to the ground and panted for breath.

"No. No breaks. Get up and get to it." said Kalvin tapping his forehead with the staff. Justin grabbed the staff and looked up.

"You stop." he panted. He pushed the staff away.

Kalvin continued to poke him.

"I said stop." said Justin pushing away the staff.

"I don't care what you say, all you should do is what I tell you to you" said Kalvin poking him harder.

"Stop it now!" yelled Justin as he grabbed the staff and tried to pull it away from Kalvin's grip, but Kalvin held on tightly and firmly.

"I said keep on going." said Kalvin continuing to poke him in forehead.

Justin jumped up and tried to punch Kalvin, but he dodged and Justin fell to the ground, and Kalvin grabbed Justin's hair and crouched to the ground and whispered in his ear, "Don't do that." With that he pounded his face into the dirt twice very hard. "I said do one hundred push ups." said Kalvin.

After shaking the stars from his eyes, Justin looked at him with a bloody nose. He then swung a fist at Kalvin, but he caught the fist and began to twist the wrist. Justin cried out in pain, but Kalvin did not stop.

"One more twist and your wrist is broken, and no amount of magic can mend it in time to rescue the princess." He stopped twisting. "Do the push ups, failure." He waited for a response.

Justin swung his other fist, but it looked like a mere pathetic flail in the air.

"Wrong choice." said Kalvin. He twisted the wrist and a sickening crack was heard. Justin blacked out for a second, but immediately came to. Pain rushed to his wrist, and he felt an uncontrollable throbbing. He cried out in pain, but he stifled it.

"Go away. Back to Marketton with you. You make me sick, son of a Tyrinnian bar girl." said Kalvin picking him up by the scruff of his neck and tossing him.

Justin lay on the ground, but he had a renewed energy. His good hand clutched his wrist as he stood. He stumbled to get up, but he finally stood gritting his teeth in both pain and anger.

"Do not even try to stand boy." said Kalvin as he knocked him back to the ground.

Justin gritted his teeth, but he found more strength than before. He stood and took a step towards Kalvin before being knocked to the ground again. Pain shot through his body, but he stood again, but this time he put his hand into a fist and lunged at Kalvin. He caught it.

Justin waited for him to break that hand now, but instead, Kalvin smiled and said, "Come inside, and Humblefellow shall let you eat, and heal your wrist." He held Justin's broken hand gently and kindly and led him into the cottage. Opening the door the gnome rushed forward after he saw the pained look on Justin's face

"Good heavens!" said the cheery gnome. "What's the matter? Did he break something?" he asked knowing the answer.

"Aye, I broke his wrist." said Kalvin as he tenderly laid the wrist on a pillow. "If you can tend to it using magic, it should be cured by tomorow, please. The boy is in some pain. If you could feed him as well, he has earned it." Kalvin walked towards the door and turned back. "Be ready for more training tomorrow, lad." he said as he walked out and closed the door.

"You passed the test eh?" said the gnome as he dressed the injury.

"What test?" said Justin through gritted teeth. He was angry, in pain, and confused at the same time.

"Kalvin's test. He does it to each of his men before he accepts them into his group. Most go crying back to Marketton, what scares most of them is when he tells them that magic won't heal the injury." the gnome laughed. "Yes, he gave you the full treatment. Don't fret. Your wound will be healed by tomorrow. Come now. Eat." he said holding up a bowl of venison stew.

"This... He... It was all a test?" said Justin in pain.

"Aye. You passed. Don't worry; it will be smooth sailing from here on. He will show you the ropes of being one of his group. You will learn lots, and I will teach you too, mostly on teh days that he stops teaching after lunch, maybe as soon as you wake up and have breakfast, I can teach you, but Kalvin will have to approve it first." said the gnome rambling.

Justin groaned as he looked at the door that was opening and in came Kas.

"Ah! Kas, good to see you." said Humblefellow.

"So, you passed?" said Kas.

"You knew about it too?" said Justin laughing.

"Of course." said Kas with a grin.

"Why? What is the point?" said Justin.

Kas smiled and sat next to him and said, "He wanted to see if you would quit at the slightest hint of trouble. He wanted to see how committed you would be. Also, he wanted to see what you would do if you were pinned for death. If you would just lay there and die, or fight back and give the other guy a hard time killing you. Obviously you threw a few punches. Any hit?" said Kas.

"Not one." said Justin laughing.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: One Night with the Forest Spirits

Justin awoke the next day oddly refreshed and, dare he think of it, happy. He had passed Kalvin's slightly barbaric test and proven himself worthy to be trained by him. Justin felt his wrist that he remembered shortly only a night ago was broken, but today it felt like it never had before. He got up out of the cot and began to walk around the cottage. He noticed Humblefellow putting something over the fire, "Some type of tea, no doubt." Justin mumbled aloud.

Humblefellow noticed him and gave a friendly wave hello and continued on with his work. Finally, Justin made it outside, and he took a long draft of what he saw, smelled, and heard from the forest around him. Sitting upon a tree stump, he saw with a large group of armed comrades marching towards the cottage.

"Hallo, Justin!" said Kalvin heartily. "I hope that Humblefellow healed your wrist, because you're in for a treat today."

"Why?" said Justin, "Are you going to break my legs?" They all laughed heartily and Kalvin stood and smiled.

"Well boys, it looks like we got someone with a quick wit." Said Kalvin laughing. "You're going to want more than quick wit where I am going to take you today." He tossed Justin some clothes. Justin held them up. The clothes were a green tunic with brown leather pants, a large leather bag filled with supplies, and a long sword. "Put these on. Today you will meet some very special friends of mine who live in the forest." Justin scrambled to put the clothes on. While he did this Kalvin merely talked. "You will be spending the day and the rest of the night with them while we take care of some urgent business."

"What is the business?" inquired Justin while he fastened on the belt.

"Nothing to concern you of right now, I don't want your day ruined with our worries, even if you are the one of the Chosen Six, you are still a boy and need not worry much with the affairs of adults." He put his hand on Justin's head and shook it playfully.

"I am a sergeant in the army. Does that count as nothing?" said Justin noticing the smile fade from Kalvin's face.

"An unfair thing to do to a child. Now come along. You shall meet them within the hour."

Justin followed them through the woods. It was a beautiful hike, and the farther they went into the forest the more beautiful it became, more unspoiled by man. Here, Justin can feel a presence, and he spoke up.

"Are their spirits in the woods?" he asked but then felt stupid and foolish for asking such a question.

"Yes." Said Kalvin to Justin's surprise. "Spirits from when these woods were first made, by the Great One or naturally. Spirits from the dead who pasted on in these woods." The men grew silent in respect. "Spirits of the friends who past on in these woods. Echoes of the past and glimpses of the future through the shifting tree leaves. Aye, there are spirits in this wood, and some will harm you, if you do something wrong to the forest, and that is whom I am taking you to today, the guardians of the forest." He paused and looked at Justin, "The Forest Spirits."

Kalvin continued to walk, but Justin was slightly frightened by the news. He heard the tales and legends of spirits, but he had never believed them. Now a grown man just told him that they were paying a visit to the Forest Spirits. Justin shook off the feeling of being watched.

"Five of them are following us right now in the trees, don't look for them, then they know you are foe not friend." Said Kalvin quietly.

Finally they made it to a meadow and they stood still. Everybody sat down. Kalvin grabbed Justin and sat him down next to him. As soon as he did that figures formed in the woods in front of them.

"Here they are." Said Kalvin to Justin.

From the woods came figures, but they were human in size, well, almost human, they barely stood as tall as Kalvin's chest, and Kalvin was 6'3''. They had long limbs and were graceful. But, they walked as normal humans, but they weren't.

"Kalvin Marque." Said one who apparently was the leader. He was tall and fair, but had a small beard from his chin to his tall pointed ears, and he wore skins of very fine leather quality. He smiled and opened his arms in welcome. Kalvin rose and greeted the creature with respect. They began to converse in the creature's tongue, and occasionally would point at Justin.

Finally the creature walked towards Justin and said, "Stand." Justin did so. The man turned to Kalvin and made an "It's him?" gesture, and Kalvin nodded. The Creature laughed and said, "My people will teach Justin. Farewell and good luck." He said to Kalvin.

Him and his men began to move off when Kalvin pulled Justin aside, "Just do everything he tells you to do. He will not hurt you as bad as I did, but it may get to that point." He smiled and pushed Justin over towards the creatures, "Good luck with the wood elves." With that, Kalvin and his men disappeared into the woods.

"Well, Justin." said the elf. "Welcome to my tribe."

They had finally made it back to what the elves called home. They were houses made from the trees that were still alive. They must have shaped them from the elfin magic that Kas was telling him about. There were around fifty elves in all each varying in age. The chief introduced Justin to many of the elves and told them about their history. He also told Justin not to worry because each of the elves could speak the human tongue quite easily.

"I am Aran Oakcrest." said the elf. "I have led these elves here for eighty winters." as he said this, Justin looked amazed at him for the ef looked no older than forty. "We, our people have lived here for over a thousand years. You look surprised. Did you expect more?" said the elf looking at Justin with a smile. "We have children, but we have the old, the separatists, and the occasional death, but that is the cycle of life, right?" Justin nodded. "You can speak, we look fondly upon humans, for we are part human ourselves. Our forefathers were elves, pure bloods, but they fell in love with humans and ran off into the wilds to escape persecution from the religious fanatics of your race, no offense, that is just the way things were." they walked into one of the tree buildings, but instead of going up, the rooms went down, and the corridors of the tunnels were supported by the roots of trees. Justin was amazed by all of this.

"Thus, because of what we did to upset the natural order, we were cursed like you. We shall die on this earth, but meet again in another, if we are blessed, or go on to eternity and what awaits us all there." he paused, but continued to walk. "Most of us live to be one hundred fifty to two hundred years old, not too far behind your kind. But, we always look young, even when we are dying, we look as if we are no older than forty, that is because of our elfin lineage. Now if we to bear a child from another human, he will become more like them, and less like the elves. That is why we separate ourselves most of the time from humans. We want to be around the forest just a little bit longer. Who knows why. It is just in our blood I suppose."

He led Justin into a large underground room where there were many elves. Apparently this was the dining hall.

"Come Justin. Eat." said Aran. "Meet your instructor for while you are here." He said pointing at a table. At the table was a taller elf and he looked much fairer than the rest. "This is Rihn, the lore keeper. He is one of the oldest in our village, he is also the most pureblooded of us all. He has seen over four hundred winters, and he has even taught me when I was young."

The elf rose and said, "Welcome, Justin, to our village. Come and eat, you must be starving after the long trek here."

Justin sat with them and ate. The food was good, and the ale was just as good as it was told in the legends he was told as a boy. Finally after the eating was over the chief bade him farewell and handed him over to Rihn.

"So, what do you wish to learn, lad?" said the elf kindly.

Justin hesitated to answer, but finally spoke up, "What you wish to teach me."

"Clever lad. Does that include everything, even if it takes a thousand years to teach you?" He smiled.

"Yes." said Justin confidently.

"Good, mark day one in your journal.

Rihn proceeded to take him and twelve other elven children of his age to teach. The elves all wore skins and hides. Most of the skins were light and easy to move in, and Justin thought that it was very practical. There were seven boys and five girls accompanying Rihn to go learn something.

"Taris," said Rihn, "help Justin if he needs anything."

Taris who was a scrawny little elf with red curly hair said, "Sure!" happily.

Rihn then marched them into a meadow. The sub showed itself through the treetops. Rihn then said, "Alright, do any of you know what this grove's name is?"

A very beautiful elven girl in the back raised her hand and said in a clear melodic voice, "It is the Grove of Ourindir the wise."

"That is correct." said Rihn who went on to explain the history of the grove and that spirits still reside there and all sorts of other little things, but Justin paid only attention to the girl that spoke up. He looked at her and relished in her beauty. She was the perfect example of a girl of that age, his age, and he noticed everything. "When Ourindir would come here he would consult with the faeries who live here. Now, do you want to see the faeries?" The elves and Justin nodded in expectation. "Very well." With that, he raised his arms and said in a cheerful voice, "Kythe and Fen, would you please show yourselves to the young hunters? I wish to teach them of the spirits."

A voice was heard it was slightly high pitched but it had a beautiful ring to it. "Hello, Rihn, good to see you again." said the little creature that flew down from the trees to speak to them. It had the wings of a butterfly and the body of a pure elf. "Ah, children, though they do not to be called that, 'tis what I see in my old eyes." he turned to Rihn and said, "I remember when Theis showed you me your first time, remember?"

"Aye, I remember." Rihn had a puzzled look on his face, "Where is Fen?"

"She is chasing a Apikith through the woods." said Kythe as he glided to each of the elves who looked at him with great awe.

"An Apikith? Here in the woods? Why would the rock people be here?"

Justin spoke, "Wait, is an Apikith look like a blue floating rock that talks?"

"Yes." said Kythe.

"It may be from Kas Silverkin for me." said Justin. "Could you take me to it?"

"I can tell you where it is, or was. It was over by Clearspring Cliff." said Kythe as he flew into the hands of one of the elven children.

"I do no know where that is." said Justin.

"I do." said the beautiful elven girl. "Taris and I can lead him there and back before you know it."

Rihn nodded and said, "Do not wander around aimlessly."

"Come along." she said with a smile at Justin. He and Taris followed.

They had gone a long way before they began to talk.

"So," said the girl to Justin, "you are from Marketton, right?"

"Yes, I come from there." he said quickly.

She looked down at the ground and quickly pulled her head up and said, "My name is Katherine, everyone just calls me Kate." she walked a little ways and said, "My mother was human, and my father died before I was born, so my mother named me... before she died." she paused.

Justin didn't know what to say, but he finally spoke, "She chose the name well. It does justice to you and your..." he stopped and she smiled.

"Hey, Kate, we almost there?" said Taris breaking the silence. "I just don't like doing this far out."

"Um... yes we are almost there." said Kate quickly returning back to guiding them.

Finally they reached a cliff drop. Kate stopped and looked down the sides of the cliff.

"Well, it is either left or right and we will find it." she said confidentially, but there was no need to choose a direction because a loud shouting of a faerie and a familiar voice was heard behind them.

Justin shouted, "Orb!" when he said this a head poked up from behind a bush.

"Thank goodness!" said the rock happily as it floated into Justin's arms. "That foul creature has been tormenting me since my arrival in the forest!" it said frightened.

Kate walked over to it and looked at it

"Aw, it is kind of cute." she said petting it.

"So that thing is an Apikith?" said Taris peering at it.

"Aye." said Justin, but before he could say anything else the little faerie flew towards them laughing and giggling.

"Fen?" said Kate.

"Aye that's me!" said the little faerie happily as it fluttered around.

Justin spoke up, "Why did you torment Orb?" he asked with a grin.

"I was just foolin' around." she said with a giggle. "I better get back to helping Kythe!" and with that she fluttered off.

"Thank Kas, for ou showing up master Darklord." said Orb rubbing affectionately against him.

"Darklord?" asked Taris.

"My father's name, trust me I don't want it." he looked at Orb and said, "So, why are you here in the first place?"

"Kas sent me to be with you and to tell Aran Oakcrest that you will have to stay here for another day." said Orb.

"Why? Is Kalvin in trouble?" asked Justin.

"Yes, the Witch Lord is coming through these woods, and I also have a personal message for Aran when I see him."

"What?" yelled Justin. "He is coming here?" he said pointing at the ground."

"No, no, no. He is just passing through here. He is on his way to Ogre Foot to oversee something special... We don't know."

"We must get this information back to Aran as soon as possible." said Kate.

"Aye, and we need to be quick about it." said Taris.

"Aye, let's go." said Justin. "Kate, will you lead the way?" he realized that he just spoke to her and quickly looked t the ground. She smiled.

"Of course." With that they ran towards the village.

"So, he is passing through our woods?" said Aran hatefully as he rubbed his chin.

"Yes, he will be here tomorrow on his way to Ogre Foot. Kalvin has asked if you would help him in an ambush to hopefully kill him." said Orb.

"Aye, tell Kalvin we can have twenty five men including myself to help him." said Aran. The children sat in the back of the room with each other. Kate looked at Justin worriedly.

"Why is he coming through here?" she asked.

"I don't know." said Justin. "I just hope that nothing happens here."

Taris leaned over and said, "I don't know. It could be bad... and bloody."

Kate pushed him and said, "Don't say that. We will be fine. Aran knows what he's doing... I hope."

"Rihn." said Aran.

"Yes?"

"Will the spirits help us?"

"Of course they will. They will fight evil."

"Good." said Aran. "We will need it. Also, I want everyone to go to Marketton for safety, except those who are able to fight and are of age sixteen. They will accompany Kalvin and give him support. Spread the word."

"Aye." said Rihn as he walked out of the room.

"Justin," said Aran.

"Sir?" said Justin.

"I want you, Kate, and Taris to go find Kalvin and stay with him. You will not reach him tonight, but you will reach him tomorrow. We will meet you in two days time." said Aran. "Tell him all that we have said, and may the Great One go with you." He walked over to Kate, "Be careful." He kissed her forehead and walked away.

They were packed and gone within two hours. Justin was given some leathers to wear for his journey to help hide his scent and colors. They fit well, and plus he liked the way they looked. Some all four of them were off, Orb included. They hiked for five hours without stop. They did not want to speak, lest be heard by something or someone that could do them harm. Finally they stopped at a cave. They went inside and it was deserted. Thye soon set up camp before the sun set. They had a nice fire that they started with some flint and steel. Taris went out to catch some food for them and Kate and Justin began to talk.

"So, Aran is your father?" said Justin.

"Not my birth father, but the only one I have had. My father was his brother, so he took me in when my mother died and he has raised me."  
"He is a good man." said Justin.

"Yes he is." said Kate. She shifted and said, "It was nice that we found a cave to sleep in rather than out in the open."

"Yes it is nice, much rather be in here than out there like Taris." said Justin chuckling.

She smiled and said, "So what is your story?"

"I am a son of a noble called Devon. My mother died when she heard that my father was murdered, so she hung herself." he paused.

"I am sorry." she said. "So, who took you in?" she asked.

"No one." said Justin. "The men who killed my father wanted no trace of my family line, so any relatives I did have had no idea that I was still alive, so they assumed that I was dead. Later, I became friends with a kid named Erik. He is older than me, but his family took me in and sheltered me and treated me like their own."

"Seems like you have had quite a life." she smiled.

"Yes, it has been."  
She moved a little closer to him, but Justin did not noticed, and she was thankful.

"And now you are one of the Six?"

"That's what people tell me." said Justin.

"So why are you here in the first place?" she asked, moving a little closer. He didn't notice again.

"The princess of Marketton was kidnapped, so, I am to rescue her." said Justin.

She looked at the ground and said, "Ah. I see. I hear here beauty is unmatched in the land, much more than me." she said with a smile looking up at Justin.

"Well, people say things to over exaggerate." he said.

"But she must be prettier than me? Have you seen her?" she asked.

Justin sputtered and then in his mind gave up and said, "I have seen her, and you surpass her beauty by far, Kate. They do not lie, she is the most beautiful girl in Marketton, but you are the most I have ever seen." Justin then turned away and could not believe the poetry that he just spouted. "Did I seriously just say that mush?" he thought to himself.

She turned away and blushed. "Surely you jest?" she said to herself with a smile.

"N-no... I said what I meant." said Justin quietly.

She turned and looked at him. She put her hand to his face and lightly lifted to look at her eyes. Soon they began to draw nearer. Justin couldn't believe what was happening. They were inches from kissing when...

"Hey! You guys ready for some rabbit and squirrel?" said Taris happily as he waltzed in the cave.

They both were startled and pulled back immediately and Justin's voice cracked when he said, "Sure."

Kate giggled. Apparently Taris was completely oblivious to what was going on.

"Okay, then! I'm having rabbit for me, and you Kate?"


End file.
